The Golovinsky District Court on Saturday ordered the arrest of Alexei Kabanov, a founder of the famous Project O.G.I. club and opposition activist, for the murder of his wife, Irina Kabanova.
Sergei Stukalov, an official spokesman for the Moscow branch of the Investigative Committee, said the 39-year-old mother of three's body was found dismembered in the trunk of a vehicle belonging to Kabanov's friends, Interfax reported.
Irina Kabanova, a journalist, went missing on Jan. 3. Initially, Kabanov wrote on his personal blog that his wife had left the couple's home after a heated argument and never returned. But investigators searched the couple's apartment on Jan. 11 and discovered keys to a vehicle that friends say did not belong to the married couple. Police then found that vehicle near the apartment building and discovered the missing woman's body in the trunk.
Kabanov's lawyer, Alexander Trofimov, said Kabanov has already confessed to the murder and has no intention of appealing his arrest, Rapsi reported. He reportedly told investigators that he strangled his wife after a heated argument and then tried to hide the crime by dismembering the body in an attempt to dispose of it.
Police have charged Kabanov with murder, which carries a maximum punishment of 15 years in prison. If convicted, he will also be deprived of his parental rights, children's rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov told Interfax on Saturday.
Irina Kabanova's three children are currently staying in a children's hospital while specialists in child services search for relatives to take custody of them. According to Astakhov, the children may be moved to a social rehabilitation center after undergoing medical tests, where they could stay for anywhere from one month to six months while new custodial guardians are found.
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