A man in the Russian far eastern city of Magadan has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for strangling to death an unconscious woman who had witnessed a jewelry heist allegedly committed by an acquaintance of his, regional prosecutors said in a statement Thursday.
The murderer, identified as 26-year-old Vladimir Mamzurin, was asked by an acquaintance who had burglarized a jewelry store in the city of Bilibino in March 2014 to kill a woman who was a witness in his case, the statement said.
Mamzurin and the jewelry store thief went to the woman's home and beat her until she became unconscious. They then taped her legs and arms together before strangling her to death, prosecutors said.
Mamzurin and his accomplice allegedly disposed of her body in the woods, concealing it under a pile of snow, and destroyed her personal belongings.
The jewelry thief-turned-murder accomplice remains at large.
