51-Year-Old Man Kills His Cousin for Not Allowing Him to Attend His Mother's Funeral Service

The preliminary investigation into a murder, motivated by revenge, as well as threats of murder, in the Vayots Dzor region of Armenia, has concluded at the Investigative Committee. Significant investigative and procedural actions revealed the circumstances surrounding the incidents and the motive.

As reported by the Investigative Committee, it was established and justified that a 51-year-old resident of Yeghegnadzor had disagreements concerning the division of his family property with his father, sister, and his sister's son, which led to strained relations. During the pre-trial proceedings, factual data were obtained indicating that on April 28, 2021, during his mother's funeral service, an incident occurred where his sister's son prevented him from attending the mourning activities and insulted him in front of numerous attendees, demanding that he leave.

Ignoring the insults directed at him, the man left, making a decision to kill his cousin as an act of revenge for being barred from participating in the mourning arrangements related to his mother's death. To that end, on May 1, 2021, around 8:30 PM, he went to a family-owned company. Spotting his sister's son's car parked outside and recalling the earlier incident, he fired a shotgun, registered in his name, at his sister's son with the intent to kill, inflicting injuries incompatible with life.

Immediately following the murder, the elderly father of the 51-year-old man, motivated by the murder of his grandson by his son, decided to seek vengeance. Intending to create conditions for committing a particularly serious crime, he took a single-barreled shotgun registered in his name and ammunition, and on the same day, around 9:30 PM, went to his son’s home, where his son’s wife and underage son were present.

Upon learning of the created situation, the brother of the daughter-in-law rushed to their home to prevent the father-in-law from entering. However, the elderly man, while making threats of murder, aimed his firearm at the brother-in-law. The brother-in-law managed to grab the barrel of the firearm, redirecting it. During this struggle, the elderly man discharged the weapon, creating a real danger to execute his threats.

The elderly father attempted to reload the firearm to carry out his intention, but his son and his son’s friend managed to wrest the gun from him, preventing the completion of the attempted murders of both his son’s wife and underage grandson.

Based on sufficient corroborative evidence, the 51-year-old man has been charged under Part 1 of Article 104 of the Armenian Criminal Code, and his father under Part 2, Clause 1 of Article 35-104 and Article 137, Part 1. They have both been ordered to be detained as a preventive measure. The preliminary investigation has concluded, and the criminal case has been forwarded to the supervising prosecutor with a request to confirm the accusatory conclusion and send it to court.