Man kills family in Siberia, leaves money for burial
AFP September 10, 201211:04PM
A man has killed his sons, wife and in-laws before leaving a note and money with neighbours for their burials and then killing himself. Picture: ThinkStock Source: news.com.au
A FATHER shot dead his two small sons, his wife and her parents in a Russian village in Siberia before handing $US6000 ($5776) for their burial to neighbours and then killing himself.
The man killed his sons aged four and nine, his wife, 38, and her elderly parents with a shotgun in the village of Podsinee in the Khakasia region of southern Siberia, the Investigative Committee said in a statement.
"Afterwards he pushed $5000 ($4813) and 40,000 rubles ($1216) through the fence of the neighbours' house with a note asking that they all be buried," it said.
"Then he went into a room and shot himself dead," it added.
The statement gave no further details but the tabloid Lifenews.ru website, known for its contacts with law-enforcement authorities, said the slaughter was the result of a family dispute.
The husband was a resident of Belarus where he had lived with his wife and sons, but she had returned from the ex-Soviet state to Siberia several years ago with her sons to be closer to her parents, it said.
The dispute took place after the husband, named as Pyotr Ivanshin, 43, reappeared at the family home in Siberia and during a night-time argument seized the weapon and killed his family, it said.
The spokeswoman of the Investigative Committee in Khakasia, Svetlana Pavina, told the RIA Novosti news agency that the murdered wife had been seeking a divorce.
"They had lived in Belarus but some time ago she returned to Siberia with the children. She applied for divorce but the husband came back to Podsinee in August," she said.
Responding to allegations the authorities had failed to respond to warning signs to stop the crime from taking place, the local interior ministry said it had launched a probe but there was no evidence of negligence.
"As far as we know none of those killed had approached the interior ministry regarding Pyotr Ivanshin. But if staff are found to be guilty (of negligence) they will be held liable, including on criminal charges," it said.
