Russian investigators have dropped a manslaughter charge against a farmer who shot two intruders to death after they demanded the deed to his farm.
The farmer, who was 51 at the time, killed the intruders after being beaten with a metal rod and attacked with a knife during the incident in the western Belgorod region in September, investigators said Friday.
The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against the farmer on suspicion of "manslaughter by exceeding the limits of necessary defense," but decided to drop the charge based on witness testimony and evidence found at the scene, the statement said.
Earlier this month a police officer in the Ural Mountain city of Izhevsk was sentenced to a year and seven months in prison on the same charge after killing a neighbor in a domestic dispute.
