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No suspects yet in Roscosmos top manager’s death in jail cell — source

The main line of inquiry into Yevdokimov’s suspicious death is a murder, but a suicide cannot be ruled out either
Vladimir Yevdokimov Dmitry Serebryakov/TASS
Vladimir Yevdokimov
© Dmitry Serebryakov/TASS

MOSCOW, March 18. /TASS/. Law enforcement agencies have not yet named any possible suspects in the death of Vladimir Yevdokimov, a senior official in charge of quality and reliability control of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, in a cell of a Moscow pre-trial center, a source with law enforcement agencies told TASS on Saturday.

"No suspects have been named as of yet. His cellmates and officials of the detention facility are being questioned. Personal cases of the people who shared the cell with Yevdokimov are being studied as well," he said.

The main line of inquiry into Yevdokimov’s suspicious death is a murder, but a suicide cannot be ruled out either, he said.

"Some forensic medical tests are to be carried out and corresponding conclusions will be drawn," he said, adding the knife seized in the jail cell would be analyzed properly.

Earlier in the day, Yevdokimov’s body with three knife wounds - two in the heart and one in the neck - was found in his jail cell. According to preliminary information, he died at about four in the morning, when his 11 cellmates were sleeping. A criminal investigation has been launched into his death.

Yevdokimov was arrested last December on charges of embezzlement of 200 million rubles (approximately $3.495 mln) from the MIG Russian Aircraft Corporation. Later, Moscow’s Basmanny Court extended the arrest of Yevdokimov and his alleged accomplice until April 30. The officials denied any wrongdoing.