A Moscow jury has found a Chechen defendant guilty of murdering former Colonel Yury Budanov in 2011 in revenge for the death of his father.
The court said Tuesday that it would sentence Usup Temerkhanov on May 7.
Prosecutors on Tuesday asked the court to jail him for 16 years, Interfax reported.
Nine of the 12 jurors concluded Monday that the defendant was guilty of murder motivated by hatred or enmity of a particular social group, as well as illegal possession of firearms, Interfax reported. An unanimous jury decision is not required in Russian courts.
Budanov was shot dead June 10, 2011, near a notary's office on Komsomolsky Prospekt. According to investigators, Temerkhanov followed Budanov and then shot him several times before escaping in a car that he later burned.
Investigators say Temerkhanov was seeking revenge for the killing of his father during a counter-terrorism operation in Chechnya in 2000.
Budanov led an army unit in the second Chechen war and lost his rank of colonel after being convicted of strangling to death a Chechen girl whom he suspected of being a sniper. He served several years in jail for the killing.
The case into Budanov's own death had already reached trial stage in February, but the initial jury was dissolved after several members fell ill and the jury foreman asked to be recused over time restraints.
Lawyers for the accused said the dismissal of the jury was a deliberate attempt to aid the prosecution.
Temerkhanov's lawyer Mourad Musayev said he would consider appealing the guilty verdict.
Temerkhanov has maintained his innocence.
"On the day of the murder I was not on Komsomolsky Prospekt and I didn't shoot Budanov," Temerkhanov said in court on April 17.
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