This week has taken an unexpected turn. loud story of the so-called “Ramensky Othello”, the former head of the suburban region Andrei Kulakov. He was tried for the murder of his mistress, the deputy chairman of the local Public Chamber, but was unexpectedly acquitted last fall. And on Monday, the ex-official was again under arrest, the prosecutor’s office insisted on this. What did the daughter of the deceased social activist say at the trial? Why did she need an ambulance and what kind of people could threaten the goose that lays the golden eggs?
The events around the trial of the former head of the Ramensky district of the Moscow region, Andrei Kulakov, developed so rapidly this week that journalists barely had time to track them, because the case is loud and mysterious. The ex-official was first accused of murdering his mistress, Evgenia Isaenkova, deputy chairman of the regional Public Chamber. Then they were acquitted and again summoned to court. Kulakov arrived there from home, confident as always, clean-shaven, with his hair styled. He gave reporters a short interview and went into the temple of justice. There, the first surprise awaited him: arrest at the request of the prosecutor’s office.
“I hoped that I would remain free and walk as usual. After all, I don’t run away anywhere, if I wanted to, I would have already run away,” said Andrey Kulakov, the defendant.
Kulakov made this confession already on Tuesday. The former official was taken to court under escort. He didn’t look so cheerful anymore. His gaze faded, his hair slightly disheveled. But, perhaps, the main events took place on Thursday, when an ambulance had to be called for the process.
The 14-year-old daughter of the murdered Yevgenia Isaenkova became ill. She is a witness in the case. The child again had to look into the eyes of the alleged killer of the mother and survive the terrible events of that night.
The schoolgirl was interrogated for two hours. Her testimony is the most important in the case. She was the last person to see her mother alive. According to the girl, on the night of May 1-2, 2019, Evgenia Isaenkova left three of her smartphones at home, perhaps so that she could not be identified by geolocation, took her daughter’s push-button phone and said that she was going to meet with a friend. Who this comrade was, Evgenia did not specify.
A few days later, on the outskirts of Ramenskoye, in a white Mercedes, they found the body of Yevgenia Isaenkova. It turned out that the perpetrator had first beaten her and then strangled her.
At the end of May, Kulakov was detained on suspicion of murder. Shortly before that, he wrote a letter of resignation from the post of head of the district and allegedly was going to leave with his wife and son for Belarus. Married Kulakov and married Isaenkova were connected by a long-term secret romance. They even rented an apartment for their meetings.
“There were guesses, but guesses were of what nature, that is, we are having some kind of event, either official or unofficial, it so happened that Andrei and Evgenia ended up together. And it was noticeable, some kind of warm attitude, but yes about that , they talked about it,” said Vladimir Laktyushin, a colleague of Kulakov and Isaenkova.
These are exclusive photographs from the materials of the criminal case. The car of Evgenia Isaenkova, in which her body was found. The pictures were at the disposal of our colleagues from the “Investigation of Eduard Petrov” program.
The journalists filmed a large movie about this mysterious matter. Experts found Kulakov’s sweat marks on the panel and steering wheel of the car. There is blood on the front seat. Biological traces of the former official also appeared on the body of the victim and even on her clothes.
“Kulakov’s genotype was found on the front seat, in the back seat, on the ceiling of the car, even on the rear wheel arch, and Kulakov’s genotype was found on the victim’s clothes,” said Anton Serous, acting director. Head of the First Directorate for the Investigation of Particularly Important Cases of the Main Investigation Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Moscow Region.
Kulakov failed the polygraph, and in a rented apartment for meetings with Isaenkova, someone did a general cleaning and destroyed all the evidence.
Investigators partially restored the deleted correspondence between lovers – it includes quarrels and mutual accusations. Probably Isaenkova insisted on Kulakov’s divorce. And he was in no hurry to leave the family.
The woman herself has long shared only a roof over her head with her lawful husband. Everyone had their own personal life. Jealousy was also cited as a possible motive for the crime.
Like, Isaenkova had an affair with a young colleague, allegedly to annoy Kulakov.
“Perhaps because in solving issues she was like a wolfhound. That is, she had a strong, strong-willed character. She bit into the problem, she demanded a solution to it, she made some efforts, she could contact people, she had an extensive circle of acquaintances through whom she acted. Therefore, yes, she is beautiful, sophisticated, but at the same time such an iron lady as Margaret Thatcher, this is the perfect comparison of her with Margaret Thatcher, “said Vasily Lechkin, a colleague of Evgenia Isaenkova.
Many people talk about Isaenkova’s tough temper and call her a “decisor” at the local level.
Kulakov himself repeatedly repeated that Evgenia in his team was a chicken that laid “golden eggs”.
Formally, as deputy chairman of the district Public Chamber, she did not report to the head of the district. But unofficially, Isaenkova was responsible for social networks and communication with the population. And she knew perfectly well who and what was talking behind Kulakov’s back.
“I have an assumption that she was under Kulakov, like a gray cardinal. That is, she officially held an insignificant position, but at the same time she had a strong influence on politics in the Ramensky district and on decision-making,” Vasily Lechkin believes.
“Behind my back, it turns out like this. It means that she was negotiating with people who are connected in one way or another with some kind of municipal contracts and so on, with the heads of settlements she communicated precisely from the point of view of financial issues. Not everything is reflected in the criminal case,” Kulakov said.
Perhaps Isaenkova really did some dubious business. They wrote that threatening messages from unknown subscribers were found on her phone. And on the door of her white Mercedes, a boot mark was found, which, according to the examination, does not belong to Kulakov. As a result, in October last year, the jury found Kulakov not guilty. Five out of six people’s judges voted to release the ex-official to freedom.
But it soon became clear that one of the jurors had a previous conviction. Another has a close relative serving his sentence. The verdict was sent back for review. Kulakov then barely restrained his emotions. He clearly did not expect this turn of events. And this week it all started all over again. The defendant again relied on the jury.
Six main and five spare. Only 11 people. That is how many jurors were present in the hall today. The new board was in full force. And now these people will be brought up to date.
The new process is going very fast. Journalists are prohibited from filming at meetings so as not to reveal the identity of the jurors. The court met three times in the past week. And every meeting was held in a nervous atmosphere. At the last one, not only the teenage girl had to be reassured, but also the defendant. He almost burst into tears when he asked for forgiveness from her husband and daughter Isaenkova for the destroyed family. Will the new jurors believe in the innocence of the former head? Looks like we won’t have to wait long for this drama to unravel.
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