The Rivne Court of Appeals upheld the verdict of the lower court, which sentenced a 48-year-old man from Kostopil, previously convicted multiple times, to life imprisonment.
This is reported by Rivne24
The defendant attempted to appeal the verdict, claiming that the court incorrectly assessed the evidence and did not take into account his arguments of innocence. He stated that the pre-trial investigation was conducted in violation of legal norms and that the witness testimonies relied upon by the court were not reliable.
The defendant’s lawyer also filed an appeal, demanding the annulment of the verdict and his acquittal, citing violations of the defendant’s rights during the investigation and the inadmissibility of evidence.
The prosecutor opposed the satisfaction of the appeals, urging that the verdict remain unchanged. The defendant, known to the police since the age of 16, committed crimes, including those motivated by self-interest and illegal handling of weapons.
In 2005, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for intentional murder, and in 2021, he received another sentence for theft. After his release, he committed a particularly serious crime: in February 2021, motivated by greed, he attacked his 84-year-old aunt, beat her, and killed her, after which he stole money and valuables.
The defendant was arrested the day after the crime in Kyiv, where he was attempting to escape.