One of two Moscow police officers who were arrested for killing a woman and hiding the body has been released after claiming he was forced to take part in the crime by his accomplice, the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper reported Monday.
The victim, 34-year-old Darya Zagumennaya, met the policemen — 23-year-old Dmitry Tomilin and 29-year-old Vitaly Tolpeko — in a cafe in southeastern Moscow on Aug. 8. They drank together and then went to a sauna, where the policemen say they had consensual sex, the report said.
The policemen claim that Zagumennaya then threatened to accuse the men of raping her, prompting one of them to shoot her several times with a traumatic weapon, the report said. The policemen then drowned her in a well outside of Moscow before burying the body, Moskovsky Komsomolets reported.
According to Tomilin's testimony, he did not take part in the murder. He said Tolpeko threatened him with the weapon and forced him to help dispose of the body. Both men were arrested a week ago, and until then they had continued working as policemen, the report said.
After the arrest they withheld information about the body's whereabouts for a week, the newspaper reported. Tomilin is now cooperating with investigators and has testified against Tolpeko and been released under oath not to leave the area.
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