Murderer hid for 19 years how he strangled and burned a child
On January 27, the court sentenced 61-year-old Sergey Berezovich to 20 years in a strict-regime colony for the murder of an 11-year-old girl committed in 2007 in the settlement of Otradnoye near Nizhny Tagil. The man kept silent about what happened for almost 19 years.
During an investigative experiment, footage of which was published by law enforcement, Berezovich showed in detail how he strangled schoolgirl Lyuba. According to him, a conflict occurred between the 44-year-old man and the girl. He put her on the back seat of his Volga and squeezed her neck with both hands.
«There was a fog in my head. I waited until she collapsed on me. I can»t say [how long I strangled her], my head had already shut down. When I came to, she was no longer breathing. I felt for a pulse — there was no pulse,« stated the convicted man.
To hide the traces of the crime, Berezovich decided to burn the body. For three hours, he burned it in the forest, after which he moved the remains to the stove of his bathhouse. The next morning, the ashes were scattered over the Chusovaya River.
The victim Lyuba grew up in a troubled family, studied poorly and stuttered. Shortly before her disappearance, she stated that Berezovich had committed lewd acts against her. At that time, the man had his own family — a wife and an adult daughter.
The girl began to blackmail him, demanding money and threatening new statements. As explained by the lawyer, the convicted man did not plan the murder, but acted spontaneously, losing his temper during the conflict.
In 2007, Berezovich was convicted for lewd acts against Lyuba, receiving a suspended sentence. No suspicions arose regarding his involvement in the child«s disappearance. Seven years later, he sold the house and moved with his family to the Krasnodar region, hiding his past from his relatives.
The truth emerged in 2023, when the Crimean court sent him to a colony for lewd acts against another minor. It was then that he confessed to Lyuba«s murder as well, which came as a shock to his loved ones. In his final statement in court, Berezovich fully admitted his guilt.
