A man accused of carrying out the contracted killing of a St.Petersburg university rector in 2012 was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment by a Vsevolozhsk regional court on Friday.
Andrei Yeliseyev confessed to the murder of Alexander Viktorov and made a deal with prosecutors during the investigation, as did his co-conspirator Vyacheslav Makarov, Itar-Tass reported.
Both men were charged with arms trafficking and murder-for-hire committed by a group.
The trial of the killing's suspected organizer, Viktor Kovalyov, is ongoing.
Kovalyov's lawyers claim that investigators "beat a confession out of" him, allegations that the Investigative Committee has said are untenable.
Viktorov, who was rector of the St. Petersburg State University of Service and Economics, was ambushed on Sept. 5, 2012 while leaving a car with his wife in the St. Petersburg suburb of Vsevolozhsk.
Gunmen opened fire on the couple, killing Viktorov on the spot and injuring his wife in the right hip.
All three defendants were arrested by special forces on Oct. 1, 2012.
Investigators believe the murder was related to the university's commercial activities but have yet to name the person who ordered it.
