Jury Finds One Guilty, One Not Guilty in Journalist's Murder

Former lawyer Alexander Shtinger has been found guilty of murdering opposition journalist Vladimir Kirsanov from Kurgan more than 20 years ago. However, the second defendant — athlete and businessman Ivan Kurpishev — was acquitted. This verdict was announced by jurors on Friday, January 30, at the Chelyabinsk Regional Court.

Charges against Shtinger and Kurpishev involved several episodes — murders and fraud. They had to answer nearly twenty questions — about whether the crimes were committed at all, whether specific individuals were involved, and whether they deserved leniency. The jurors retired to the deliberation room the day before, on January 29, and spent about three hours there. The result was planned to be announced that evening, but the court took a break until morning. Today, the jurors were given additional explanations, and they again retired to deliberate before announcing the verdict.

Alexander Shtinger was found guilty of the killing of Kirsanov and for concealing the traces of the crime, then handing over the materials of the journalistic investigation to a client from a criminal group. However, the jurors considered that he deserves leniency.

Ivan Kurpishev was acquitted of three murders and was released in the courtroom.

Today, close ones came to support the accused Ivan Kurpishev. His son refrained from commenting to the press, but classmates decided to speak out even before the verdict was announced.

«We«ve known each other for a very long time, it»s practically a familial relationship,» said Kurpishev«s student friend Vadim Rybin. «I know he has few relatives left who could support him. This person is not indifferent to me, so I»m here.»

Rybin does not believe in his friend«s guilt.

«I believe in his innocence, or perhaps I want to believe in his innocence, because I know him as a decent person, a kind person, who, in my opinion, is not capable of such terrible crimes,» he explained his position. «When more than two decades pass, and they try to find the guilty one… Of course, if a person really disappeared and, God forbid, was killed, then someone should be punished for it, but I«m not sure it»s Ivan Borisovich. Because… He is a convenient person for organizing some kind of frame-up. He was a well-known athlete at the time, a public figure, in the spotlight. Who to pin it on? Based on this, you can find someone who is in the public eye. He is visible, he is heard.»

Ivan Kurpishev is indeed a well-known athlete in Kurgan. He was involved in powerlifting, hand-to-hand combat, arm wrestling, worked as a coach, and headed the regional powerlifting federation.

Another classmate of Kurpishev, a teacher from Kurgan named Natalya Isakova, also did not believe in his guilt.

«It«s a pity that we couldn»t make it earlier, because the journey is not short. I wanted to come to all the hearings to support him,» she admitted to journalists. «I know him in everyday life. A person who could always come to help, who helped organize sports competitions for children, who provided support to many athletes absolutely free of charge. When there was a domestic gas explosion in the building where they lived, he helped his neighbors. He never said a bad word to anyone or did anything harmful.»

Since the guilt of the other defendant in the journalist«s murder — Alexander Shtinger — was considered proven by the jurors, he remains in custody. The specific sentence will be imposed later by the court.

We have already written about the case of journalist Vladimir Kirsanov. He started at the city newspaper in Kurgan, wrote about economics, corruption, criticized regional authorities, then actively participated in work for the 2000 gubernatorial elections and published a newspaper for one of the candidates. After the campaign, he worked as editor-in-chief at «Kurganskiye Vesti». Shortly before his disappearance, Kirsanov told his wife that he was being followed, but both did not take it seriously enough.

On May 17, 2001, the journalist disappeared on his way to work and never contacted his family again. In the garage where he was supposed to pick up his car in the morning, a dried pool of blood was later found. According to the investigation, the murder of Vladimir Kirsanov was linked to the criminal group «Locomotive», which extorted protection money from baths and saunas in Kurgan in the early 2000s. For killing the journalist and disposing of his body, according to the case materials, the perpetrators received 800,000 rubles (approximately $8,000 at current rates).