Police in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug detained the alleged mastermind behind the murder of Okrug Prosecutor Yuri Bederin, which was committed in 2000, reported the official representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia Irina Volk. Detained Yuri Chekin has been on the wanted list for over 20 years, she said.
Chekin at the time of the crime was the head of the control and auditing department of the Ministry of Finance of Russia for the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. He was suspected of embezzling budget funds. Wanting to avoid responsibility, Chekin organized the assassination of District Attorney Bederin.
“The detained perpetrators pointed to Chekin as the customer of the crime, after which he disappeared, and his whereabouts remained unknown,” said Irina Volk.
In recent years, the wanted person lived in Khanty-Mansiysk in an apartment building. He did not go out into the street, and the windows of the apartment were covered with an opaque film.
In one of Chekin’s rooms, under the windowsill, a cache was found in which a person could hide. Also, during the search, the operatives seized weapons and documentation that are related to the investigation.
The suspect was detained by the police with the assistance of officers of the regional department of the FSB and the National Guard.
According to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, the detained Chekin during 1993 actually ran a cooperative, through which he stole 15.6 million rubles from one of the enterprises of the oil and gas industry. In this regard, a criminal case was initiated.
“In June 2000, Chekin, out of revenge for the principled position of the prosecutor of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug-Yugra, Yu.A. and the execution of the topics of his official duty, aimed at bringing Chekin to criminal responsibility for fraud, organized, acting as a customer, the murder of the latter ”, – it says in the message of the RF IC.
Prosecutor Bederin was killed on 25 July 2000 at the entrance of his house. He was shot three times with a homemade pistol.
According to the investigation, Chekin also ordered the murder of his friend A.V. Ruppel, who allegedly tried to appropriate his money. On November 7, 1996, Ruppel was killed by seven shots from a TT pistol at the entrance of a house in Khanty-Mansiysk. Later, Chekin, who was fond of gambling, organized the murder of a resident of the city of Khanty-Mansiysk Izrailov B.M. because of the gambling debt, investigators say. Izrailov was shot dead on January 3, 1998.
Five perpetrators of these three murders, as well as the organizer acting on behalf of Chekin, have been identified and have already been convicted. And Chekin was charged in absentia under Art. 17 p. “A” of art. 102 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR (organization of the murder), part 3 of Art. 159, part 3 of Art. 33 p. “H” part 2 of Art. 105, part 3 of Art. 33 h. 1 tbsp. 222, part 3 of Art. 33 h. 1 tbsp. 222 and Art. 295 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud, organization of murder, organization of illegal circulation of weapons, encroachment on the life of a person conducting a preliminary investigation).
Chekin was taken into custody as a preventive measure. A relative helped him hide, investigators believe.