The Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case in connection with the death of actor Andrei Panin on charges of intentional infliction of bodily injury, the committee said in a statement posted on its official website.
"The decision to open a criminal case was made in view of the fact that several bruises and a head injury were discovered on Andrei Panin's head," the statement said.
Preliminary evidence suggests Panin's death had no criminal element; the apartment door was locked from the inside, there was no sign of anyone else having been in the apartment, and the nature of the head injury suggests he fell from up high, the statement said.
But in order "to establish all circumstances, investigators must carry out a set of measures as part of the criminal case," including a forensic examination that could reveal the true cause of Panin's death, the statement said.
Andrei Panin, who was 50 years old, was found dead on March 7 at his apartment in southwest Moscow. The preliminary cause of death is a head injury caused by an accidental fall.
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