VIDEO: After Raping a Girl, He Asked If She Recognized Him: The Gruesome Case in Pemzashen Has Been Uncovered

In 2022, on November 9, it was a regular working day in the village of Pemzashen, Shirak province. Everyone was busy with their daily tasks, and classes were running smoothly at the school. Later, it became evident that two of the school's top students were absent, and their mother, Zarine Meliksetyan, an employee at the Pemzashen Health Center, had also not reported to work. These circumstances seemed suspicious both at the workplace and at the school.

“Zara Meliksetyan, being a diligent worker, would always inform us if she was going to be even 10 minutes late. This was very unusual for me. So, I called 3-4 times and got no answer. Then I called the girl through the accountant. The girl also did not answer; I called again, and she still did not respond. I called the nurse and had her try calling her closest neighbor,” recounts Varduhi Khachatryan, the director of the Pemzashen Health Center.

“The children had not shown up during the first hour in the morning. Typically, after taking attendance in the morning, the homeroom teachers inform us how many absentees there are in each class. We were also informed about the absence of these two students. Concerned, we tried to contact the parent. The calls remained unanswered,” says Lyova Nazaryan, the director of the Pemzashen Secondary School.

“Around 12:00, I received a call from the hospital, saying Zarine hadn’t come to work. I went to see where she might be—at home, at a neighbor's house, or maybe gone somewhere in her car. I knocked on the door and windows, but no one answered. The other door was sealed with cellophane; I tore it off, opened the door, pushed the furniture, and entered. As soon as I went in, I saw that everyone was dead…” recounts neighbor Ruzanna Adamyan.

Since the house door was locked, the neighbor had entered not through the main entrance, but through another door. After discovering the bodies, the villagers called emergency services and the police. Around 12:30, the operational group of the Artik police station discovered the bodies of 31-year-old Zarine Meliksetyan and her two children—12-year-old Karine and 8-year-old Sargsyan—in a house on the 10th street of Pemzashen. The bodies had cut and stab wounds, with the mother's hands tied, as well as her son's hands and feet.

To uncover this particularly brutal crime that gained widespread attention, under the instruction of Police Chief Major General Vahe Ghazaryan, officers from various departments of the Criminal Police Headquarters also went to Pemzashen. Staff from the National Security Service, the Prosecutor's Office, the Investigative Committee, the Shirak Regional Police Department, and the forensic scientific-practical center also arrived at the scene.

“In order to solve the crime, operational groups were formed on-site, which conducted operational inquiries among all residents of the community. At the same time, we analyzed all surveillance cameras located in the vicinity of the crime scene,” says Artem Matilyan, the deputy head of the Artik police station.

During the investigation, several versions of the events were discussed. By correlating the collected evidence, the police concluded that the perpetrator or perpetrators were from the same village.

“Continuing extensive operational-search measures, we identified individuals previously convicted of various crimes, as well as persons with mental disorders,” adds Artem Matilyan. Meanwhile, while some media reported that foreign criminal elements were involved, as a result of the professional actions of law enforcement, a list of suspects had already been formed.

On November 12, in the city of Artik, a 32-year-old resident of Pemzashen was arrested on suspicion of murder and robbery. “During the questioning, we noticed a fresh injury on his shoulder, resembling a cut or stab wound,” says Artem Matilyan.

The 32-year-old man told the police that he had sustained the injury while doing construction work at his home with a saw. He also showed the police the saw. However, the man’s behavior was suspicious, and the fresh wound looked more like it had come from a cutting or stabbing object rather than from a saw.

Through the measures taken by the officers of the Criminal Police Headquarters, it was discovered that the 32-year-old suspect had been in Yerevan just hours after the incident.

“Initially, the 32-year-old man denied being in Yerevan, asserting he had no connection to the incident. However, under pressure from undeniable evidence, as well as explanatory work, he confessed to the entire crime,” presents Senior Operational Officer Vardan Sahakyan from the Criminal Police Headquarters.

According to the 32-year-old man, on the evening of November 8, he met a relative, a 41-year-old resident of the same village, and expressed that he needed money. The 41-year-old relative indicated that he knew a place from which they could obtain money. According to currently known information during the investigation, they drove to Zarine Meliksetyan's house in the relative's BMW, parked a little distance from the house, waited for a while, and entered the house since the door was open.

Preliminary data suggests that Zarine Meliksetyan came out to the corridor to confront them. The 41-year-old man struck her on the head with his fist, causing her to fall unconscious on the corridor floor. After that, the 32-year-old man searched for money in a bag in the kitchen. Not finding any, he went out into the yard, picked up some wires, re-entered, and stabbed Zarine Meliksetyan multiple times. After stabbing her, the children came out of their bedroom. The 32-year-old man tied the hands of Zarine Meliksetyan and her 12-year-old daughter, while he tied the hands and feet of her 8-year-old son. He then took the injured mother to the bedroom.

Leaving the injured woman on the bedroom floor, the 32-year-old man stabbed the 8-year-old son three times in front of his mother, killing him on the spot and then stabbed Zarine several more times, leading to her death as well. After this, he untied the 12-year-old girl's hands, took her to the hallway, and committed sexual violence against her. He then asked the girl if she recognized him. Receiving an affirmative answer, he stabbed her three times and killed her. After killing the girl, noticing a gold chain around Zarine Meliksetyan's neck, he stole it, then locked the door from the outside with a key and fled.

He returned home, removed his blood-stained shoes, and placed the knife, the murder weapon, in one of the kitchen drawers. According to the 32-year-old man, he injured himself on the shoulder with the knife during these actions when he fell.

“We learned that hours after the incident, the 32-year-old man went to Yerevan, where he sold the stolen gold chain for 32,000 drams. He spent some of that money on personal entertainment in the capital before returning to Pemzashen,” says Senior Operational Officer Vardan Sahakyan.

After the confession of the 32-year-old man, the police also arrested the 41-year-old man. During a search of the 32-year-old man's residence, a knife with bloodstains and shoes were found. Measures are being taken to clarify all circumstances of the incident. Both the 32-year-old and 41-year-old men have been detained. The preliminary investigation is ongoing.

Note: The suspect in the alleged crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of law in accordance with the established procedures of Armenian criminal procedure law.