Star dancer organizes attack on ballet chief
Source: Agencies |
March 7, 2013, Thursday
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A Russian ballet star who most recently played the title role in "Ivan the Terrible" at the famed Bolshoi Theater has confessed that he organized the acid attack on the theater's ballet chief, according to Moscow police.
Sergei Filin, the artistic director of the Bolshoi ballet, suffered severe burns to his eyes and face on January 17 when a masked attacker threw a jar of sulfuric acid in his face as he returned home late at night. The 42-year-old is undergoing treatment in Germany.
Star dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko, 29, confessed to masterminding the attack, and two other men confessed to being accomplices, police said yesterday. "I organized that attack but not to the extent that it occurred," a bleary-eyed Dmitrichenko said in footage released by Russian police.
Police said in a statement that investigators believe that Dmitrichenko harbored "personal enmity" against Filin.
Investigators got suspicious of Dmitrichenko when they found out that he had recently been in a close contact with an unemployed convict. The suspects were making inquiries about Filin's schedule and whereabouts and bought SIM cards for mobile phones registered under fake names, police said.
Police found out that the acid that the alleged attacker, 35-year-old Yuri Zarutsky, splashed on Filin's face was bought at an auto shop. Zarutsky is believed to have heated it to make the water evaporate to make the acid stronger. On the night of the attack Dmitrichenko tipped off Zarutsky when Filin left the theater, police said.
Dmitrichenko, who comes from a family of dancers and joined the Bolshoi in 2002, has danced several major parts in recent years, including the villain in "Swan Lake."
Dmitrichenko remained in police custody pending a court hearing today in which prosecutors will move for formal charges against the three men.
Sergei Filin, the artistic director of the Bolshoi ballet, suffered severe burns to his eyes and face on January 17 when a masked attacker threw a jar of sulfuric acid in his face as he returned home late at night. The 42-year-old is undergoing treatment in Germany.
Star dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko, 29, confessed to masterminding the attack, and two other men confessed to being accomplices, police said yesterday. "I organized that attack but not to the extent that it occurred," a bleary-eyed Dmitrichenko said in footage released by Russian police.
Police said in a statement that investigators believe that Dmitrichenko harbored "personal enmity" against Filin.
Investigators got suspicious of Dmitrichenko when they found out that he had recently been in a close contact with an unemployed convict. The suspects were making inquiries about Filin's schedule and whereabouts and bought SIM cards for mobile phones registered under fake names, police said.
Police found out that the acid that the alleged attacker, 35-year-old Yuri Zarutsky, splashed on Filin's face was bought at an auto shop. Zarutsky is believed to have heated it to make the water evaporate to make the acid stronger. On the night of the attack Dmitrichenko tipped off Zarutsky when Filin left the theater, police said.
Dmitrichenko, who comes from a family of dancers and joined the Bolshoi in 2002, has danced several major parts in recent years, including the villain in "Swan Lake."
Dmitrichenko remained in police custody pending a court hearing today in which prosecutors will move for formal charges against the three men.
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