The high-profile case was heard in the Specialized Inter-District Court for Criminal Cases of the Atyrau Region.
The press service of the Atyrau Regional Court reported that the defendant had been in a relationship with the victim, who later decided to end things due to disagreements. However, he continuously harassed her, breaking into her apartment through a second-floor window and threatening to set her on fire with gasoline if she did not continue the relationship.
On that day, events unfolded as follows. The defendant entered the victim's apartment through the bedroom window and held a knife to her, threatening to kill her. Fearing for her life, the woman told him that her children from her first marriage were sleeping and that she wanted a doner. By deceiving him, she managed to get the defendant out of the apartment and called for help from an acquaintance. The acquaintance told the defendant not to bother the victim anymore. However, knowing that the accused would return, she asked her acquaintance to stay with her and the children.
Seeing the victim enter the apartment with her acquaintance, the defendant, in a fit of rage, bought a 5-liter bottle of gasoline and, taking a lighter and paper, broke back into the apartment.
Knowing that two small children and the victim's acquaintance were sleeping in the apartment, he doused the place with gasoline, set it on fire, and fled the scene. A fierce fire broke out. The victim, suffering severe burns, was unable to reach her children and save them. Her acquaintance broke a window, and they jumped out onto the street together with the woman. As a result, the victim's 10-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter perished in the apartment, while she succumbed to 90% body burns in the hospital; her acquaintance survived.
The defendant's guilt was established through the testimonies of the victims, witnesses, crime scene inspection protocols, expert conclusions, and video recordings. The expert assessment concluded that the man was not in a state of affect and was mentally healthy.
The prosecutor and the victims requested a life sentence for the defendant. He did not admit guilt, explaining that he was in a state of affect and asked to be acquitted. The defense requested the defendant's acquittal. The court found no mitigating circumstances. He was declared guilty.
The court's verdict has not yet entered into legal force.