A former Israeli citizens living in Russia has confessed to shooting his wife and two daughters to death. Moscow media reported Monday that the man, Yuri Merkind, had been charged with committing the triple murder.
The bodies of Ina Chernyshev, 46, and her two daughters – aged seven and 12 – were found in their apartments in the Russian capital on Saturday morning. The RIA Novosti news agency reported that the murdered woman's son, Michael Merkind, found the bodies during an army leave.
A day after the triple murder, businessman Yuri Merkind arrived at a local police station and turned himself him. He told his investigators that he had murdered his wife and two daughters due to financial trouble.
"He didn't want his family to become hostage to his financial difficulties and debts," a source involved in the investigation told Russian media.
According to the reports, a note found in the apartment links the father to the murder, however the content of the note was not revealed. Merkind was arrested in possession of the gun which he allegedly used to murder his family. A silencer used during the killing was discovered in a dumpster near the family home.
The family returned to Russia recently after living in Israel .According to local media outlets, Yuri Merkind's business covers a variety of fields. His neighbors told the RIA Novosti news agency that the family had lived in modest conditions and that the defendant was hardly ever home. He may have not been living with the family when he committed the murder, they said.
The Israeli Embassy in Moscow told Ynet it had not received any appeals from the murdered woman's relatives. An official representatives for the Moscow prosecution confirmed that Merkind had been charged with three murder counts.