In Sochi, court extends detention of woman, suspected of Antonina Mayevskaya's murder

In Sochi, on November 9, Federal Judge Sergey Martynenko extended the detention of Yulia Zhigulina, suspected of the murder of 87-year-old Antonina Mayevskaya, till December 12.

Antonina Mayevskaya, a widow of Iosif Mayevsky, the well-known cultural figure in Sochi, disappeared in Sochi in December 2011, and starting from January, her apartment was occupied by unidentified persons. In February, the body of Antonina Mayevskaya was found near the river in Khosta. A 30-year-old Vorobyov, his 23-year-old common-law wife Zhigulina, and their 52-year-old friend Volov are suspected of committing the crime.

Investigators state that the suspects of the murder gave confessions. Yulia Zhigulina said that on December 15, 2011, at the apartment of Volov, located in Ostrovsky Street, they agreed on the murder of the lonely elderly woman to occupy her apartment in Constitution Street. There, they also worked out the plan of the murder.

According to the investigators, on December 15, at about 09:00 p.m., Yulia Zhigulina came to the Antonina Mayevskaya's apartment, located in Constitution Street, and asked to let her spend the night there under the pretext of her quarrel with her common-law husband Vorobyov. Antonina Mayevskaya agreed.

After midnight, Antonina Mayevskaya fell asleep, and after that Yulia Zhigulina, according to her, sent an SMS-message to her common-law husband Vorobyov, who came to the apartment to the elderly woman and strangled her. According to the confession, Yulia Zhigulina helped him by keeping arm and leg of Antonina Mayevskaya.

After the murder, Zhigulina and Vorobyov called his accomplice Volov and took the Antonina Mayevskaya's body to the forest near the village of Plastunka. According to the investigators, the body laid there for two months, from December 16 till February 17.

According to Yulia Zhigulina, she with her accomplices planned to find documents for the Antonina Mayevskaya's apartment and complete new documents on her property for the apartment. They wanted to sell the apartment for three million roubles.

However, Yuri Mayevsky, a stepson of Antonina Mayevskaya, continues to insist that Zhigulina, Vorobyov and Volov operated as members of the grouping of "black realtors".