Former Samara Mayor Viktor Tarkhov and his wife were murdered roughly a month ago, multiple news outlets reported on Wednesday, February 5. The lead suspect in the killings is Tarkhov’s own granddaughter, Yekaterina Belskaya, who allegedly sold off her grandparents’ belongings (including collections of icons and cars) while impersonating her victims in text messages to conceal their disappearance. Belskaya is reportedly not cooperating with police. Conflicting accounts describe the murders as fatal beatings and shootings, while others say the Tarkhovs’ bodies are still missing.
Viktor Tarkhov’s daughter, Lyudmila Tarkhova, was sentenced in December 2022 to seven years in prison for extorting 200 million rubles (roughly $3 million) from regional politician Alexander Mileyev. Before her sentencing, she revealed that her father relocated to Norway after becoming gravely ill with the coronavirus. He and his wife reportedly returned to Russia shortly before they were murdered last month.