Georgian Citizens Stone to Death 26-Year-Old Driver in Sevan

The investigation into the murder of a 26-year-old man in the Gegharkunik region and the concealment of the murder in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman in Yerevan has been concluded by the Human Rights Violations Investigation Division of the RA Investigative Committee. Charges have been filed against three citizens of the Republic of Georgia, as reported by the public relations department of the Investigative Committee of Armenia.

Earlier, it was reported that on May 31, 2018, the body of 26-year-old Zhora Martirosyan was found in the back seat of a "VAZ 21074" car parked on the road leading from the Sevan peninsula to the Sevan governmental summer residence, with multiple head injuries.

A criminal case was initiated in the Gegharkunik regional investigative division under the first part of Article 104 of the RA Criminal Code, and the preliminary investigation continued in the Human Rights Violations Investigation Division.

As a result of extensive investigative actions and operational measures, several circumstances of the murder have been clarified.

Specifically, the 26-year-old who resided in Gyumri had provided transportation services to Georgian spouses and their friend on the day of the incident, delivering them to Sevan in his "VAZ 21074" vehicle. The investigation revealed that the spouses had illegally entered the territory of Armenia from Georgia on September 12, 2017, in prior agreement, without proper authorization, bypassing state border checkpoints.

During the journey, the passengers consumed alcohol and had an argument, which led to Zhora Martirosyan's admonition.

The investigation established that the spouses, driven by gainful motives, combined with robbery, struck the young driver with stones in various parts of his body with a unified intent to unlawfully deprive him of life. The husband sat on the young man’s feet while the wife kneeled behind his head, hitting him with stones and causing injuries incompatible with life, witnessed by their friend.

They then took the 26-year-old driver’s phone and removed a gold ring with a diamond from his finger, returning to Yerevan together. To conceal their traces, the spouses washed their bloody clothes, and the next day sold the gold ring stolen from the young man at a shopping center in Yerevan.

It is noteworthy that apart from Zhora Martirosyan's murder, another murder committed by the Georgian spouses was also revealed during the investigation.

On January 15, around midnight, the body of Anahit Aleksanyan, a 1947-born resident of Yerevan living alone, was found in her apartment lying in bed. It became clear that the woman had also become a victim of murder.

During the investigation, several circumstances and motives of the woman's murder were established. The Georgian spouses had gotten to know Anahit Aleksanyan through their acquaintances in Armenia. The 71-year-old, who worked as a doctor, had engaged in alternative medicine after retiring. The spouses approached her under the pretense of seeking solutions to health problems, became close with her, and learning that she had been saving money and possessed gold and silver jewelry, planned to steal them.

With this intention, on the night of January 13-14, 2018, they visited Anahit Aleksanyan, dined together, and consumed alcoholic beverages. During the meal, the man approached the elderly woman from behind with the intent to unlawfully deprive her of life, embraced her, covered her mouth to prevent her from calling for help, and began to strangle her. To break the elderly woman's resistance, he instructed his wife to hold down the woman's legs while he continued to choke her.

To create the impression that she had died suddenly in bed, they removed her clothing, laid her in bed, and carefully arranged her clothes using gloves to avoid leaving traces.

The preliminary investigation has established that the suspects stole gold and silver jewelry and other items worth a total of 1,891,000 AMD from the elderly woman's apartment.

Based on the gathered evidence, charges were brought against the spouses under the 2nd part of Article 104, points 7 and 8 (two episodes), and Article 329, 2nd part of the RA Criminal Code, while their friend was charged under the 1st part of Article 334.

The completion of the preliminary investigation has been announced, and the criminal case with an accusatory conclusion has been sent to the prosecutor overseeing the legality of the preliminary investigation.