A ballerina from the world famous Bolshoi Theatre was killed and dismembered with her body dissolved in sulphuric acid, believe law enforcement sources.
Russian detectives are reported to be investigating a new lead in a long-running suspected murder case over the disappearance of dancer Olga Demina, then 25, six years ago.
She is believed to have been killed after she was the victim of a sting operation by a man possessing ‘sexually compromising’ pictures of her.
Olga Demina, a ballerina with the world famous Bolshoi Theatre has been missing for six years. Detectives in Russia have long suspected that she was murdered and reports now say a suspect has confessed to dismembering the dancer and dissolving her remains in acid
The suspect Malkhaz Dzhavoev is pictured with his wife Liliya (second from the left), mother (first from the left) and father(first from the right). Dzhavoev was recently jailed for five and a half years over fraud involving a flat belonging to Demina’s boyfriend
Malkhaz Dzhavoev, 40, variously described as the dancer’s ‘manager’ and ‘lover’, was detained in Moscow in 2017 after he was extradited on an Interpol warrant from Germany, where he had fled from Russia, posing as a Kurdish refugee.
Before her death, Demina is thought to have paid large sums of money to Dzhavoev to avoid ‘sexually compromising’ pictures of her appearing on the internet
He was recently jailed for five and a half years over fraud involving a flat belonging to the ballerina’s boyfriend Alexey Fetisov.
Dzhavoev is also suspected of Demina’s murder.
Now a law enforcement official has told Komsomolskaya Pravda that Dzhavoev ‘let slip’ Demina’s corpse ‘was dismembered and dissolved in acid’ with her remains probably thrown in a well near a lake.
The source said: ‘Search work is underway there now.
‘Sulphuric acid does not have to dissolve everything to zero.
‘Some body fragments should be preserved. But they still need to be found.’
Dzhavoev – seen in a video at his wedding in 2012 – and his father bought sulphuric acid from an industrial source, it was reported.
A discovery of a skull last year close to where Dzhavoev’s mobile signal was registered on the night Demina went missing was found not to be linked to the case.
The ballerina’s mother Elena Demina said: ‘Investigators told me new information appeared in the case.
‘The killer murdered her and then dismembered the corpse…then he dissolved parts of the corpse in acid.’
Immediately before she vanished Dzhavoev had taken Demina on a trip out of Moscow to dance for a group of businessmen at a nightclub.
The criminal case into Demina’s disappearance alleges’ the criminal case: ‘While in the apartment on the night of August 20, 2014, Dzhavoev allegedly attacked Demina and committed premeditated murder.’
Detectives are reportedly hopeful that they will be able to find some of Demina’s remains as searches are currently underway. It is thought that Demina’s remains may have been disposed of in a well near a lake
The dancer’s family said she paid large sums of money to suspect Malkhaz Dzhavoev before she died. Dzhavoev’s relationship to the missing woman is unclear with some sources describing him as her ‘lover’ and others calling him her ‘manager’
The mother told how before her death the dancer had paid large sums of money to Dzhavoev.
Demina’s mother said her daughter was completely at the mercy of Dzhavoev, who is suspected of killing her. Meanwhile, his lawyers claim to have information suggesting Demina was preparing to leave Russia for a life abroad
‘Shortly before her death she sold her Peugeot car. She went to sell it with Malkhaz. (Dzhavoev), he took the money.
‘Olya also had loans in her name – and gave the money to Malkhaz.
‘She was completely at his mercy.’
She had evidently feared ‘sexually compromising’ pictures of her would appear online – and despite paying money to prevent this, the pictures were posted.
Dzhavoev’s lawyer has denied any wrongdoing by his client over Demina’s disappearance, and claimed ballerina may have fled abroad living on the proceeds of a housing scam.
‘We have information that Olga Demina was long dreaming of leaving Russia and arranging her personal life abroad,’ said a member of his legal team.
Her family say she was swindled out of money from a housing deal shortly before she vanished.