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MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian court sentenced a distinguished historian known for recreating Napoleonic battle scenes to 12.5 years in prison on Friday after convicting him of the murder of his young student lover, whom he dismembered.
Oleg Sokolov, 64, a former history professor at St. Petersburg State University, was found in a river in November last year with a bag containing the severed arms of Anastasia Yeshchenko, a 24-year-old graduate.
Sokolov pleaded guilty to her murder, but told the court that it was not premeditated and that she had driven him “into a state of complete insanity” by making insulting comments about her children from another relationship.
The prosecution had asked the St. Petersburg court to imprison him for 15 years. Sokolov said he was haunted by the crime and asked for a more lenient sentence.
While rendering the verdict, the judge said that Sokolov had shot Yeshchenko four times with a rifle before dismembering her with a knife and saw, removing the body parts in bags and throwing them into the Moyka River in St. Petersburg.
He disposed of his phone in the river near his home, but was caught while disposing of the body parts.
When the severed arms were unable to sink, he stepped into the icy waters and then was unable to physically get out due to the cold, the judge said. He was later captured.
The court also found him guilty of gun possession and that was included in his 12.5-year sentence.
Sokolov is an expert on Napoleon Bonaparte and was awarded the Order of Merit of the Legion of Honor by France.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth and Maria Tsvetkova; Edited by Kirsten Donovan and Gareth Jones)
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