E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Nikolay Alexandrov / AP
Igor Danilevsky, who allegedly confessed to killing two women, speaks to his mother in a court as he appears in the court in Kazan, about 450 miles east of Moscow on Friday.
A college teacher who confessed to killing two women in their Russian apartment says he scrawled "Free Pussy Riot" in blood on the wall to mislead investigators, police said Friday.
The initial hint that the killer was inspired by the jailed Pussy Riot punk band provoked new criticism by a Russian Orthodox Church official who said the group's supporters now had "blood on their conscience."
The official also called on human rights groups and celebrities such as Madonna and Paul McCartney to "disavow" their support of Pussy Riot to prevent other such violent acts, The Moscow Times reported.
But the police report said the crime was not inspired by the group or its protest against President Vladimir Putin in a Moscow cathedral for which three band members were jailed.
The 38-year-old suspect, identified as Igor Danilevsky, told police he killed a former classmate and her 76-year-old mother and then wrote the words on the wall "to draw suspicion away from himself and portray it as a ritual killing," the regional Interior Ministry said.
The bodies were found on Wednesday and state television repeatedly showed images of the slogan daubed on the kitchen wall of the apartment in Kazan, capital of the Tatarstan region, about 450 miles east of Moscow. According to The Moscow Times, investigators believe the killings of the women took place sometime between Aug. 24 and 26.
Protesters put head covers on sculptures in Norway to show their continued support of the jailed Russian punk rock group called "Pussy Riot." NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
The "punk prayer" Pussy Riot performed at the Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral in February was a protest against Putin and the support for him from the Russian Orthodox Church.
Russian punk band Pussy Riot appeals conviction
The jailing of three band members for two years drew international criticism and opposition leaders hope Pussy Riot supporters will join street protests starting in September.
The Moscow Times reported that Mikhail Kuznetsov, a lawyer for the plaintiffs in the trial, said "tragedies like the one in Kazan … would have been avoided" if the women had not been convicted of inciting religious hatred.
Police said Danilevsky, the suspect in the killings in Kazan, had pretended to be courting the younger victim after she helped him pay off his debts by borrowing hundreds of thousands of roubles (tens of thousands of dollars) from banks.
Danilevsky allegedly promised the woman they would take a vacation together, but grabbed a knife and killed her during a quarrel after he told her they would be unable to take the trip.
Handout / Reuters
The words "Free Pussy Riot" written on a wall are seen inside an apartment in Kazan, Russia, in this undated image released to Reuters on Thursday. Two women were found stabbed to death in the apartment.
Russian court sentences Pussy Riot rockers to 2 years in prison
State television showed what it said was the suspect, his face blurred out, calmly giving an account of the killings.
Police said Danilevsky had taken the knife used in the killings with him after the murders and stole 100,000 roubles ($3,100) and two mobile phones from the apartment.
He was detained after the phones and the knife were found on the balcony of the apartment where he lived with his parents. A court ordered him held in custody for two months, and he could be imprisoned for life if convicted of the killings.
Reuters contributed to this report.
More world stories from NBC News:
- Report: Ireland hospitals to send some patients home on weekends
- Assad stays cool amid reports of bread-line slaughter
- Ex-Marine on her journey from homelessness to the Paralympics
- Red Cross halts most Pakistan aid in wake of beheading
- Unexploded WWII bomb disrupts Amsterdam airport
- Pakistani Christians live in fear after girl's blasphemy arrest
- 'A less polar pole': Arctic sea ice at record low
- Botched restoration turns Spanish church into tourist attraction
Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
Leave a Comment:
Are the police sure that "Free" was a verb and not an adjective? That could change the complexion of the case.
Does anyone else besides me find it odd that someone from Russia alleged of a crime wrote his false clue in English?
no.. :) but altho a long way to go getting free speech, tough on crime stance seems good.
Police: Killer wrote "Pussy Riot" to mislead us.
Me: Y'think?
For a second I was hoping Google translate works on images now......
No Richie. You were the only one.
A nut bag killed two women and "Pussy Riot" is implicated because the guy wanted to throw the cops a curve. I'm glad he confessed, but once again, the damage has been done. The church and the government owe these female rockers an apology and another venue to state their cause. "Pussy Riot" has nothing to do with murder, simply social reform in Russia.
Why do they owe an apology? It was a legitiment assumption to make given it was written there. This is just like the story of the lesbian who faked being the victim of a hate crime. People will try to fool authorities and play whatever card they can. I think 2 years is rediculous btw, but this is a story about murder, not anything else.
MrBurns,
The fact that the prosecutors and the church made public statements blaming Pussy Riot for this murder is a big deal. If you cannot see that, then you sir are part of the problem.
I love saying pussy riot.
Yeah but the meaning as a hole...err whole is just wrong. lol
Pussy Riot owes the church an apology.
Personally, I think that and some community service work at the church is enough. Two years is ludicrous. I also think celebrities should stay out of it and Madonna should quit trying to use the cause to advance her career and have more people "look at ME."
The girls should have every right to voice their opinion. They should have picked a better place to do it though and not in someones building that they worship in.
why does this unknown band get so much attention from the media??? guess it shows how much real news they have to report, the media is a big part of the problem today, reporting all the trash and none of the news! ! !
Because they've been imprisoned for their lyrics in a song. I'd say that's impetus enough to let people know what egregious things happen in places other than the U.S. UNwarranted imprisonment is not okay, no matter where it happens.
Actually it was for trespassing on church property and staging an unlawful protest, but sure, spin it however you want.
I am for their freedom btw, but if you want to make a point, be correct.
@ comment #3 Maybe you shouldn't click on 'world news' if you can't follow what's going on?! Just because you might be isolated and removed from global issues (in your American trivia bliss) doesn't mean this is not important news nor that is it irrelevant 'trash' like Kardashian and Paris Hilton babble.
'Pussy Riot' has caused an international uproar by daring to publicly challenge Russian president Vladimir Putin and the whole controversy is well noticed across the world. Furthermore the newly powerful Russian orthodox church has aligned itself with the Russian autocrat who is accused of having 'cooked the election'
Internal Russian issues are now a reflection of democracy worldwide under siege, with churches and the ruling election manipulators disrespecting a silent or daringly defiant majority...
And interesting how these random killer promptly sparked the orthodox church to continue demonizing the protesters!
I don't think the Russian police have so much of an issue with the protesting as they do have issue with HOW these band members have chosen to protest.
Storming a church with ski masks on is a very bad idea in Russia given what happened in Beslan, Russia about 8 years ago. Try running into a bank or an airport with a ski mask on and I think you will find yourself off to jail, regardless of whether you simply put on a "catchy" concert for all the bank patrons or the airport patrons.
For all the church parishoners knew, they were going to be taken hostage or perhaps even killed, because that is what happened when masked terrorists charged into an elementary school in Beslan. DOZENS of children died in the rescue attempt. I think it is universally understood that putting on a ski mask for anything other than protection from the cold, implies that you are up to something shady and even something that could result in loss of life.
The band members should have thought that through.
Because they like typing "Pussy Riot" over and over again.
"Why does this unknown band get so much attention from the media?" Retired: this isn't about publicity for an unknown band...this isn't about kardashian style undeserved fame...it's about people being sent to prison because they were saying something their government didn't approve of...it's also about the extreme length that government went to to charge them with a "crime".
Extreme length the government went to charge them with a "crime"? How about I find some KKK people and ask them to storm your house and talk about whatever it is they talk about and then you tell me how their freedom of speech needs to be protected. These band members weren't protesting on a street corner or in some public park, they stormed a church service and as far as I am aware that is private property. As the above poster mentioned, go storm a bank or airport for your freedom of speech and see if you are not apprehended or shot.
poop
You can free the pussy, but the pussy will never be free!
WTF?
The band doesn't even exist. just a media ploy. Did this russian guy really scrawl his meaningless dribble in english?
Good eye, Graywolf. You took notice of something that I found odd as well. Why is the writing in English if the guy is Russian? Instinctively, one would think that most people, in a panic over having killed someone, would write in their preferred language. But this guy appears to have planned a little more carefully how to cover his tracks, even though the crime is being portrayed as a crime of passion committed in the heat of an argument.
It makes me wonder if there is more to this case than what is being released to the public.
Probably figured he could cash in on some international fame if he gets caught. Which seems to be the case, a win win for him..
That's a sad picture with his mother there
Disagree about it being sad, I find it revolting. He doesn't deserve an ounce of compassion even from his mother.
@gramgigi
I think doug was talking about the mother...look at the picture again...look at her face...it is sad...i feel badly for her...
...has anyone thought of what a pussy riot would actually look like?
...be afraid...be very afraid...
This guy was no doubt inspired by Charles Manson who had his followers scrawl "death to the pigs" in blood in attempt to cause a racial war.
All jails are bad; Russian jails are especially bad. It will go poorly for him.
Why did he write it in English?
The intent WAS to mislead the police. It makes a certain kind of sense to me.
NYET! Manson WANNABE!
I'm still trying to wrap my head around a band named "Pussy Riot"
I'd like to wrap my head around a pussy riot, if you know what I mean.
I find it ridiculous the band was charged with "religious hatred" simply because the protested was at a church. I dont see any "hate" for any religion here. More like hate for Putin.
As for this loser, hope he rots.
It's too bad that Russia continues to be a hotbed for moronic behavior, mostly by their political figures. Cannot forget about the police, the church and the state. All of these brain-trusts deserve each other. The jailing of band members for delivering a message to the church and the state just goes to show how absolutely out of touch and barbaric their society really is. Its a shame.
какая спаскуда
какая паскуда...
What a bastard, indeed. They should hang him!
Yes, it is interesting how he wrote in English, a big part of the world wants international attention, like MSN is bothering to mention that storry here, but far more importantly and what the news should be here in NYC:
When are we seeing here on MSN, when in NYC the police last Friday shot 9 people, when are they going to jail and charged with attempted murder--it is shocking in EU to see USA government can just shoot the public in such huge public crowded areas--USA is not getting anywhere near as much tourist revenue in the future, I have been very surprised over the news in northern EU papers--
People simply can not believe the Police in USA are safe anywhere, shooting several people every day, and including walking around in airports with guns, so anyone can steel those guns and take hostages or planes, and this after the rest of us are standing and accepting strangers looking at our privates with x ray machines------the police in USA simply think they somehow are superior; this with only a couple of month real education except for gun and phys ed schooling.
send him over here to florida.....we'll make sure he gets what he really deserves.
Someone needs to teach him how to properly use an exclamation mark.
Of course P___— R__— is to blame and should stand trial as co-defendants with this murderer! This guy is either just making up the explanation to deflect bad publicity from his cause or he wouldn't have murdered these two innocent and helpless women if thinking he could get away with it if P____R__— hadn't perpetrated their crimes on the church in the first place. They are as responsible for these deaths as he is. They are sad representatives of the latest generation of 20-somethings who all think they can murder people and destroy property in some kind of toddler's temper tantrum just because they don't like something.
College instructor, lives with parents, has 10's of thousands of dollars in debt. How?? This is one screwed up dude!