How one of the most ferocious criminal groups of the early 2000s was brought to an end
Alexander Zvyagintsev (Vice-President of the International Union of Criminalists and Criminologists, Honored Lawyer of the Russian Federation)
There is no crime that would not leave criminal traces. They just need to be found, which is not always easy and quick to do. But it also happens that the criminal who committed the crime, sometimes does not leave the main evidence — his fingerprints, because they … simply do not exist! Gang member Igor Kuzmenko transplanted the skin on his fingers so that he could not be identified. He was a full-time killer for one of the most ferocious groups of the early 2000s.
Killer Igor Kuzmenko got a life sentence. / ntv.ru
The forest animals are kinder
The gang was formed in 1999 and operated until 2009. The gang changed names, from Pushkin to Balashikha, but there was no permanent name until one of the gang leaders, Dmitry Lesnyakov, was detained. After his surname, the gang began to be called «Forest Gang» (from the Russian «les», which means forest).
The criminal community was engaged in racketeering. The main «feeding trough» was the Pushkin market. The group eliminated people who interfered with it. And it was also engaged in contract killings, including on the tip-off of criminal authorities. According to Valeria Bashaeva, an investigator for especially important cases of the State Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee for Moscow, the bandits operated mainly in Moscow, Moscow region, Rostov and Chelyabinsk regions, as well as in Krasnodar Territory. They committed extremely bloody, bloodthirsty crimes. One of them was a brutal attack on entrepreneur Alexander Razinkov, the chairman of a garage-building cooperative from Sochi.
An investigator for especially important cases of the State Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee for Moscow Valeria Bashaeva. Photo: Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation
On the plot of land belonging to the cooperative, a parking lot with two high-rises was allegedly to be built. The investor and developer was the Vant company, which belonged to the top of the «Forest Gang». The gangsters did not plan to build anything, they just wanted to take the land to dispose of it profitably.
The son of the entrepreneur Sergey Razinkov says: his father did not know with whom fate brought him together, that it was a bloody gang of raiders with a long trail of murders behind them. The bandits began to threaten Alexander Razinkov, but he did not give in, as he always tried to solve cases peacefully — he said that the 90’s are over, and now it is necessary to act only in the legal field. He did not hold important positions and was not a ‘tough guy’, he was just a normal person who knew he was right and always acted according to his conscience and the law.
Having failed to get the coveted booty, the bandits decided to arrange a demonstrative reprisal. Two killers were sent to Sochi. One of them was Kuzmenko.
– The members of the criminal community disguised their murders, as a rule, as robberies, – says Valeria Bashayeva. – They attacked a person, beat him to death, but they took away either a bag or another valuable object to make it look like a street robbery for the sake of stealing property.
The “Forest Gang” disguised its crimes as robberies. Photo: Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation
In a wig and with a rebar
The killers always diligently covered their tracks so that it was impossible to find the customers and connect the criminal episodes with each other. They used various means of conspiracy: false beards, clothes of labourers, or disguised themselves as homeless people. Moreover, they liked to encrypt themselves not only when committing crimes, but also during their preparation – they conspired their speech, for example, firearms were called «numbered fishing rods».
For Kuzmenko, killing a person was like drinking a glass of water. He said that reprisals against people was just a job and he was a professional in his field.
Criminal psychologist Alena Lenkovskaya believes that a killer is a person who can easily come to terms with his conscience. As a rule, such people have a very low level of empathy, for them the victim is not a person and his life, but just an object.
Kuzmenko and his partner had been monitoring Razinkov’s schedule and movements for several days. They worked out when, where and how it was best to attack. They decided near the victim’s house. They dressed up as janitors and prepared their crowbars.
An attack using iron rebars or crowbars is Kuzmenko’s feature, his well-developed style. Accomplices in the gang said that no one could cope with such murder weapons better than him.
Weapons of Lesnikov’s gang. Photo: Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation
In the evening, Alexander Razinkov parked his car in the yard as usual. His wife saw him through the window and opened the door beforehand. But the husband never crossed the threshold of the flat…
According to his son, Sergei Razinkov, he ran out to see why his father did not come in for so long and literally stumbled over him — he was lying in the middle of the roadway. The ambulance arrived quickly, but there was no chance to save him.
It was an execution! Execution for intimidation for the edification of others. So that no one could resist, so that everyone could see how the resistance to the bandits ends.
The attack on Alexander Razinkov was thoroughly investigated. All primary evidence was collected and well consolidated, eyewitnesses were questioned, and expert examinations were conducted. Nevertheless, there was not enough objective data to untangle this tangle. Kuzmenko and his partner left Sochi the same day. It was not possible to solve the murder in hot pursuit.
– The crimes were committed on the territory of different federal subjects, often the accomplices and the victims were not familiar with each other, – Valeria Bashaeva comments on the situation. – And this connection had to be established by the investigation in order to unravel a huge chain of crimes.
Сhanged his face and the skin on his hands
The gang leaders believed in their impunity. They began to act even more brazenly. One of the victims, for example, was shot right on the steps of the prosecutor’s office. But they did not know at that time that they had already come to the attention of the authorities and operational-search measures began to be carried out on them. It became clear what kind of personalities they were, and this helped to identify and detain a number of them in the future. The detainees quickly realized their prospects. And, as usual in such cases, they quickly betrayed their leaders and accomplices. When the gang was caught, the killer Kuzmenko managed to escape. He hid from justice for many years. He changed his appearance, made plastic surgery of his face and hands, destroying papillary patterns on his fingers so that it was impossible to identify him by them.
Kuzmenko destroyed the papillary patterns on his fingers so that he could not be identified by prints. Photo: Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation
The fugitive traveled between Russia, Ukraine and Thailand, using other people’s names and documents. As Valeria Bashaeva said, in different periods of time he used different personal data. He had been Kuzmenko since 2001, became Kishko in 2003, and then turned into a Ukrainian citizen Roman Marchuk.
But the search for the killer did not stop. The investigators established a correlation between the fact that a certain Marchuk was constantly communicating with a woman with whom Kuzmenko had previously cohabited. The necessary analysis was made and it became clear that in fact Kuzmenko was hiding under the mask of Marchuk.
Kuzmenko was shocked to be identified and detained. Photo: Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation
A phonoscopic examination helped to identify the killer. Specialists compared the way the detainee Marchuk spoke with Kuzmenko’s voice on the old recordings.
– A person’s voice and speech are a unique phenomena that does not change, being a static feature of personality, – says Albina Glotova, senior expert of the Investigative Committee of Russia. – We use specialized software for voice and speech identification. It allows us to see what the sounds look like, measure their duration, see the amplitude of vibrations, see the basic tone of a person’s speech, that is, all the identifiably significant features that distinguish in physical terms the speech of one person from another.
With age, the voice may change. It can become huskier, more hoarse. But there are still characteristics by which anyone can be recognised. The manner of speech gives away the speaker. These are intonation, pauses, the way a person pronounces sounds, what words he chooses, how he builds phrases and sentences. The essence of speech — it will still inevitably manifest itself. The research is complicated, but reliable. And if the experts have established the identity of a person by voice, it means that it is so.
Killer has done a lot to change his appearance. Photo: Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation
In addition to the voice, experts also studied Kuzmenko’s appearance, on which he had worked so diligently. A portrait examination was carried out, certain data were compared. For example, the corners of the eyes, the contour of the lips, the auricles. It was established that the different photos depicted the same person, namely Igor Kuzmenko.
– Probably, I will disappoint those who are fond of plastic surgery, – says Evgeny Tsukanov, head of Forensic Research Division of the Investigative Committee, smiling. – Relatives or acquaintances may not even recognize a person with a changed appearance. But for a forensic expert, it is not such a problem to identify him from previous photographs.
Photo: Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation
The final station is hell…
The killer of the “Forest Gang” Kuzmenko was shocked by the fact that he had been identified and detained. The killer of the «Forest gang» Kuzmenko was shocked that he was identified and detained. He could not decide by what name to call himself and what to tell the investigator about this or that period of his criminal activity. He refused to cooperate, to provide samples of buccal epithelium, i.e. saliva, in order to establish his DNA and make a comparative analysis with his biological father. So the investigation waited for a period of time, thinking about how to solve this problem. But it resolved itself: Kuzmenko defiantly cut his hands. He didn’t get to the veins, but bandages were needed. The bandages were seized, and the blood from them was compared with a saliva sample from his father, who also flatly refused to provide the investigation with his biomaterials. Investigators found a way to legally obtain his toothbrushes, combs, towels and DNA was extracted. The comparison showed that they were a son and a father.
Kuzmenko before and after plastic surgery. Photo: Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation
Kuzmenko was accused of participating in a criminal community, banditry and illegal arms trafficking. He was also charged with the murder of seven people and causing grievous bodily harm to four more.
The “Forest Gang” was formed in 1999 and operated until 2009. Photo: Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation
Alexander Razinkov’s son Sergei has been waiting for justice for many years. And, finally, he was able to see the perpetrators of the family tragedy in the dock. At the trial, the lawyer of one of the bandits mistakenly called Sergei by the name of his father…
– It seemed to me that my father was really sitting next to me at that moment, and the lawyer turned to him, – Sergey shared his impressions. – It is desirable that they “stood on the path” before they collapse into hell.
Killer Igor Kuzmenko got a life sentence. The same retribution went to the organizers of this criminal group. In total, 55 episodes of grave and especially grave crimes were investigated in one criminal case. More than two dozen people were brought to justice.
According to Valeria Bashayeva, the investigation is continuing. There are still other criminal episodes and she is sure that all the perpetrators of the atrocities will be arrested and held accountable.
At the court hearing in the case of the «Forest Gang». Photo: Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation
July 25 is the Investigators’ Day in the Russian Federation. «Rossiyskaya Gazeta» congratulates the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, and all the investigators of the country on their holiday and wishes them less work every year. Good luck!
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