Pavel Murder Suspect Faces Life Imprisonment

A court in St. Petersburg granted the investigators« request and placed Pyotr Zhilkin in custody, accused of murdering a minor. The maximum penalty for the charge is the death penalty, but Russia has a moratorium, so in practice the defendant faces life imprisonment.

According to the Unified Press Service of the Courts, the crime occurred on 30 January no later than 4:00 p.m. Zhilkin was driving with nine-year-old Pavel from the Lenta hypermarket on Tallinskoye Highway towards the village of Yalgelevo (Leningrad Oblast). On the way, he tried to coerce the boy into sexual acts, and after the refusal, he struck the child in the head with a fist.

From that single blow, Pavel died. To conceal the evidence of the crime, the accused, investigators believe, drowned the body in the Simonovsky Stream, after which he washed the car, deleted footage from security cameras at his home, and fled to Pskov Oblast.

Zhilkin confessed to the crime. He was detained in Pskov, and a collection of child pornography was found on him. The location of the body — near the Lower Shingersky Waterfall — was identified by the suspect himself. The child«s body was found on the night of 3 February.

The search for the missing boy involved police and more than two hundred volunteers. The case will now be heard in court, where the further measure of restraint and possible punishment will be determined.