Death behind a closed door

The circumstances of the departure of Boris Berezovsky are still not clarified

Last a year after the death of Boris Berezovsky, a two -day crowned inquiry could not shed light on the main mystery of the death of the disgraced Russian oligarch: was he killed or settled himself with life himself

Boris Berezovsky arrived in the high court of London on January 18, 2012

On March 26 and 27, the city town hall of the city of Windsor saw the influx of journalists and curious people unusual for these places: in the hall of meetings with ceremonial portraits of the British monarchs hung on the walls, the coroner Peter Bedford heard the testimony of witnesses regarding the death of Boris Berezovsky. However, according to the results of the meeting, the coroner did not answer the main question: “I cannot bear the verdict that Boris Berezovsky committed suicide, or that he was killed. Any of these versions should definitely be supported by evidence and exclude all other versions. I do not have sufficient evidence to confirm any of these versions. The presence of two versions is impossible to use one of them as a definite cause of death. Therefore, I leave the verdict open. "

The city town hall of Windsor

The coroner inquiry is not a court, but a public court investigation. It is carried out in case of violent or sudden death under unclear circumstances. The coroner does not pass the verdict, but finds out the causes and circumstances of death. In the case of Berezovsky, the identity of the deceased was accurately confirmed, the place and approximate time of death: Plato Elenin, previously known as Boris Berezovsky, died on the morning of March 23, 2013 in the house of his ex -wife Galina Beharova in Ascot, the county of Berkshire. He was found by his personal guard on the bathroom floor, his throat was tied with a scarf. Then the riddles begin.

Hello, sadness

As it became known from the testimony of loved ones, over the past six months of his life, Boris Berezovsky suffered from depression, the main reason for which was an unsuccessful lawsuit against Roman Abramovich in the case of Sibneft and Rusal. Many noted that if Berezovsky was always “energetic” and “active” before the process, then after a loss of the process in August 2012, he suffered from depression, panic attacks, did not leave his room for a long time, received antidepressants and often talked about suicide.

A few days before his death, the doctor canceled the course of antidepressants, citing the fact that they have an adverse effect on the patient’s liver, although they do not pose a serious health threat. However, several witnesses noted that Berezovsky was sure: antidepressants inflicted irreparable damage to his liver.

“Berezovsky wanted to die. He talked about suicide and even asked me “How is the best way to die?”: “Spraying from a height, cut the veins, take pills? - said the guard of ex-oligarch Avi Navam, who spent most of the time with him over the course of six months.

However, the former personal secretary of Berezovsky Mikhail Kotik noted that no one seriously believed in the real opportunity of suicide: “If a person wants to do this, he just does this, and does not discuss it with people,” the Kollik reasoned.

Among other reasons that aggravated the depression of the deceased, a lawsuit was named about the division of property from his former civil wife Elena Gorbunova in January 2013, as well as the issue of studying for his youngest daughter Arina.

List of those who testified to Corner Peter Bedford

Berezovsky and sudden death in 2008 of his former business partner Badri Patarkatsishvili in 2008 - as a result, Berezovsky lost a significant part of his condition in 2008.

However, according to Mikhail Kotlik, Berezovsky’s bankruptcy information, often appeared in the press after the trial with Abramovich, was not true: “Yes, there were problems with cash. But within 12 months of strengthened work, Boris could become an extremely wealthy person. Not a billionaire, as before, but very wealthy. If recently he spoke of almost complete ruin, then it was rather because he wanted to create such an impression. This does not correspond to the truth. "

The words of Kotlik were confirmed by other witnesses: Berezovsky, according to them, often said that he “found a solution to financial problems”, but did not go into details.

In addition, it became known that during the Berezovsky trip to Israel financial assistance was offered to him by the former media magnate Vladimir Gusinsky.

Inexceptions

Despite the hope of restoring financial well -being, after losing Abramovich Berezovsky was forced to abandon the previous standard of living. He moved to the house of Galina Besharova’s ex -wife, abandoned numerous guards and servants. Recently, only Avi Navama worked for him, who took on the role of not only a guard, but also a driver, a cook and an assistant in the household.

According to his testimony, on that fateful day on March 23, he entered the owner’s room in the area of ​​four in the evening. Having knocked on the door of the bathroom, Ali realized that she was locked. Navama first called the emergency service, then - the assistant Berezovsky Kotlik and only after that broke the door.

This raised questions both that of the coroner Peter Bredford and the daughters of Berezovsky: why did not a professional bodyguard break the door at once. “Boris became more for me than the boss, he became my friend, and I was afraid of what I could see inside,” Ali answered this.

“The main thing that you managed to look sincere,” Navama remarked one of his friends during the break.

Navama was actually sincerity with a bang, but during the inquiry, other inconsistencies were also revealed.

Firstly, the door to the bathroom opened not only from the inside, but also outside. Secondly, the next day, friends with children were supposed to come to Berezovsky, the ex-wife Galina Beharova told him about this. She added, referring to the unexpected voluntary departure from life that “it was not in his character, he is not such a person. He would never have done this, especially, knowing that the children will come. ”

In addition, on March 25, Berezovsky was going to fly to Israel and was looking forward to this trip, and in England he was scheduled for meetings on March 23 and 24. There was no dying note in the house, and in the computer and its phones - no traces of searching for sites related to suicide on the Internet.

The last strangeness was the fingerprint found on the pen in the bathroom, which did not belong either to Berezovsky or any of the domestic ones. The cleaning lady noted that the shower hung too high, and she could not wipe him, so the imprint could be there for a long time.

Disagreement experts

Various forensic experts also made conflicting conclusions. So, the British police came to the conclusion that we are talking about suicide, and Berezovsky hanged himself on his own scarf, which often wore.

The pathologist Simon Pul, who conducted a detailed examination after the death of Berezovsky, said that there was nothing in the case, which would indicate involvement in this death of third parties.

Another examination showed that in the body of the deceased there were no substances indicating that it could be poisoned.

However, the German pathologist Professor Bernd Brinkmann, hired by Berezovsky’s daughters, said that, in his opinion, the disgraced Russian oligarch died, and at least two people participated in the murder. Proof of this: deformation of the face of the deceased is atypical for suicide, and traces on the neck do not correspond to a typical V-shaped trace left by a rope during self-possession.

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The deformation of the face of the deceased is atypical for suicide, and the traces on the neck do not correspond to the typical V-shaped trace left by the rope during self-possession

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According to Brinkmann, Berezovsky could be strangled by attacking him from behind in the bedroom, which explains the absence of traces of the struggle in the bathroom and on the body. Then, according to Brinkmann, the corpse could be dragged to the bathroom, where the bodyguard found it.

The conflicting testimony of specialists has even more confused the investigation, which has yet stopped - for lack of new evidence. But the continuation of the surety will follow. As the coroner Peter Bedford noted during the investigation, "this is not a TV show for you, where everything can be found out up to a minute, this does not happen in real life."

Photo: Reuters/Stefan Wermuth