A man implicated in two homicide cases testified in a local court, asserting self-defense as the claim behind the fatal injuries to his mother-in-law. The remarks were reportedly made in open court on April 18, during ongoing proceedings. The exchange was cited in a regional newspaper, which identified the defendant by the initials MK and located the incident in Chita, a city within the Trans-Baikal region.
The case of Kirill Berko is currently under review at the Trans-Baikal District Court, where a formal indictment is being considered. The defendant, a 21-year-old resident of the Olovyanninsky district with prior convictions, faces charges related to the killing of two individuals in what prosecutors describe as extreme acts of violence. In addition to homicide, the allegations include property damage through theft and criminal destruction, as well as arson connected to the alleged offenses.
According to the prosecution, the accused and an accompanying woman allegedly removed a power tool from a villager’s residence, an act tied to the earlier murder. Roughly two months after that incident, the defendant is said to have attacked his mother-in-law with a sharp object, striking her in the neck. The victim died at the scene, after which the defendant allegedly severed the head and buried it in his garden, while concealing the body of the woman in a dumpster.
In describing the sequence of events, the defendant attributed the violence to a confrontation over financial support. He claimed that the mother-in-law had criticized the woman for not providing sufficient funds for their daughter, and that such remarks were part of a broader pattern in which the victim frequently commented on the family’s finances and suggested that money was not being brought home consistently.
Berko recounted that prior to the altercation with the mother-in-law, the woman allegedly caused a disturbance by breaking a window at his home. He asserted that the mother-in-law then advanced with a knife, prompting him to attempt to remove her from the scene. He described grabbing a weapon and responding with a stab to the neck, insisting that the act occurred in self-defense after a previous day marked by alcohol consumption.
Further details in his account addressed the second homicide. Berko claimed to have neutralized a different resident, known to the family, by describing a prior visit in which the victim reportedly harassed the accused’s family members. He described finding the man in the residence and observed the situation as escalating quickly, leading to a decision to conceal the crime traces. He suggested that the suspect witnessed the man engaging in inappropriate behavior in a greenhouse, which according to Berko, involved sexual impropriety, and described subsequent actions that followed as self-preservative and aimed at avoiding intervention.
The defendant went on to explain that after the incident, he believed the perpetrator’s household electrical system posed a risk of fire. He claimed to have poured flammable liquid around the house and set it alight, an act he said was intended to destroy evidence and deter future discovery. He also referenced taking a pension from the table of the deceased in the related case, a detail that prosecutors say will require corroboration during the trial to determine its relevance to the motives and sequence of events.
The stories presented in court also touched upon a subsequent moment in which the mother-in-law allegedly offered to purchase the electric tool that had previously belonged to the deceased. Various reports have indicated that the other young man involved in the second homicide initially approached law enforcement with a confession, raising questions about the level of coordination between the two alleged crimes and the roles each participant played in the broader criminal acts described in court records.
As the proceedings continue, the court is expected to consider whether the defendant acted with intent to kill beyond a reasonable claim of self-defense, or whether the statements presented by Berko indicate a more premeditated pattern of violence. The case raises complex questions about motive, opportunity, and the financial stress that reportedly influenced several of the controversial actions attributed to the accused. In the coming hearings, prosecutors are anticipated to present corroborating evidence, including forensics and witness testimony, to establish a clear timeline of events and the responsibility of the defendant and any accomplices involved in these grave charges.