Russian travel agent Alexander Voronin has killed his fiancée by hitting her with an object in 83 separate blows shortly before their wedding.
The 26-year-old son of a senior ex-KGB security service officer, left horrific wounds on Marina Pankratova, 26.
Voronin’s mother was said to have found Pankratova semi-naked in bed following the three-hour attack.
According to evidence presented to a Moscow court, the bride’s face was severely disfigured and her skull fractured by an unidentified object, possibly a chair leg or the blunt head of an axe.
Pankratova’s torso and limbs were covered in wounds, some caused by punches and kicking.
After killing his fiancée, Voronin, who owned a car rental company and travel agency, tried to flee abroad but was stopped due to pandemic travel restrictions.
He was held in a Moscow park after his father Nikolay persuaded him to give himself up.
Voronin had been seen leaving the flat he shared with his fiancée soon after she was killed.
State investigators spoke to five former girlfriends who all reported that Voronin had been abusive.
He tied up one woman and threatened to throw her child out of the window.
The accused’s father insisted his son was not the killer.
“Pay attention to the fact that most of the hits were made by a right-handed person, and Alexander is left-handed,” he said.
“I think at least two men had committed the act.”
In court, Voronin had said: “I do not remember anything”.
But the court heard a CCTV camera caught him beating the woman as they walked home and no one else was seen entering the flat.
Relatives say the couple had dated a long time after meeting at work.
A friend said Marina had recently complained about domestic violence to the police, but later withdrew the claim and agreed to marry Voronin.
Voronin, who maintained his innocence at the trial, was sentenced to fourteen-and-a-half years in prison.