Homophobic murder in Volgograd

On the night of May 9-10, 2013 in the south Volgograd, the brutal murder of 23-year-old Vladislav Tornovoi was committed. The cause of the incident was the suspicion of non-traditional sexual orientation of the deceased.

The body was found by the locals residents on May 10 in one of the yards in the Krasnoarmeisky district of the city. Personality managed to establish with difficulty, the victim was raped with bottles, severely beaten and his head crushed with a stone.

The Investigative Department of the ICR for the Volgograd Region reported that Anton Smolin, Alexei Burkov and Pavel Semykin were detained on suspicion of murder. One of detainees gave confessions: he said that the reason for mockery of the dead "served homosexual orientation of the guy and his allegedly defiant behavior, which hurt the patriotic feelings of a group of scumbags who celebrated holiday May 9th". Two detainees are suspected of murder (Article 105 of the Criminal Code). 22-year-old Semikin is involved in the case as a witness.

The main suspect, 27-year-old Anton Smolin, was close to Nazi skinheads. On his page on the social network "VKontakte" there is a racist quote from Hitler. As his goal, he designated "the cleansing of Russia from some ... shit." Named among his favorite books "Mein Kampf", and among the musical groups "Kolovrat" and "The Last Tanks in Paris".

Smolin was twice imprisoned for theft and robbery. He was released from prison in August 2012.

22-year-old Burkov was convicted four times for theft, robbery, beating out of hooligan motives.

It is reported that this group of young people (at least four people) had previously committed homophobic attacks. The case was initiated under Art. 105 of the Criminal Code (murder).

Sources

• Homophobic murder committed in Volgograd // Grani.ru. 2013. May 11.
• Chernukhina Yu. Motive for murder // New time - The New Times. 2013. May 20.