A resident of the Tula region, two and a half years passed before he confessed to killing the son of a former roommate and revealed where the body was hidden, according to the regional press office of IC Russia.
The 28-year-old suspect had a close relationship with his 33-year-old mother and lived with her and his son since the summer of 2020.
The murder of a 5-year-old boy occurred in October 2020 in Bogoroditsk. That month the boy’s mother was away, and the child was left alone with his stepfather. The adult did not approve of the boy’s conduct and, angry at what he perceived as disobedience, struck the child multiple times. Soon after, the man realized the child was not breathing. Fearing the consequences, he wrapped the boy in a blanket, drove him into the woods by car, and buried the body.
When the boy’s mother returned home and could not locate her son, she did not go to the police, as she did not want to abandon her partner. She continued the relationship with the man who killed her child for several more years and only ended it in the fall of 2022.
On April 6, the 28-year-old suspect was arrested. During interrogation he admitted to the crime, expressed remorse, and pointed to the location of the remains. The man is now charged with causing grievous bodily harm that resulted in death through negligence. Authorities reported that he had no prior convictions.
Investigators will conduct a legal assessment of the child-rearing conditions and the performance of agencies tasked with safeguarding minors to understand how such crimes might be prevented in the future.
A separate incident in Kamchatka involved a September 2022 episode where a man assaulted a friend’s daughter to stop the TV from making noise, underscoring ongoing concerns about violence against children and the need for vigilance in household environments (citation: press office IC Russia, regional report).