St. Petersburg teacher suspected of killing his 2-year-old son and the child's grandmother
In St. Petersburg, Russia, a 40-year-old teacher who reportedly served in the war against Ukraine is suspected of two murders and an attempted murder. The victims are his 2-year-old son and the boy's 58-year-old grandmother.
Police in St. Petersburg, Russia, are searching for a 40-year-old math and physical education teacher named Dmitry, who is suspected of two murders and an attempted murder. Local outlets Fontanka and Rotonda report that the victims were a 2-year-old boy and his 58-year-old grandmother. The child's mother survived. Media reports say the man had recently returned from the war in Ukraine.
What happened
Passersby found the boy's mother, 32-year-old Anastasia, badly beaten near a building in the Solnechny Gorod residential complex in the city's Krasnoselsky district. According to Fontanka, she escaped through a ground-floor apartment window. She is now in the hospital.
Media reports say Dmitry worked at a school in the Krasnoselsky district, where Anastasia taught history and social studies. Her mother taught English at another school. The two were not married, and the child who was killed was their son.
Television channel 78 reported that Dmitry went to the Kursk region after Ukrainian forces had been driven out and served there in a mobile fire unit. In August, after coming back, he suggested that he and Anastasia break up.
The relationship before the killings
A friend of Anastasia's told the channel that the relationship had worsened even before Dmitry left for the war. She said he was intensely jealous and had "aggression issues." After their son was born, Anastasia moved into her own apartment with the child and was afraid to be alone with Dmitry, yet he came by almost every day to take the boy for walks.
Dmitry is believed to have come over again on Sunday, killed Anastasia's mother and the child, hidden the boy's body in the refrigerator and beaten Anastasia.
Fontanka reported that a note from the suspect was found at the scene. In it he wrote that being a "weekend dad" infuriated him and that it irritated him that Anastasia was "off somewhere enjoying herself" while he looked after the child. He suspected his partner of cheating and doubted he was the boy's father.
The suspect fled and a search is underway. According to Fontanka, police believe he may have died by suicide.
