Russian Jailed for 9 Years for Murdering Popular Instagram Influencer

A Russian man has been jailed for nine years for stabbing to death a popular Instagram influencer who modeled herself on Audrey Hepburn.

A Moscow court on Monday convicted Maxim Gareyev for the murder of 25-year-old Yekaterina Karaglanova, a medical student whose naked body was found with more than 19 knife wounds in a suitcase in a rented flat in July last year.

Karaglanova had an Instagram account called Katti_loves_life, posting images of herself posing to look like "Breakfast at Tiffany's" actress Hepburn in scenic holiday destinations such as Venice and Dubai and wearing designer labels.

"I've adored Audrey since school and people often tell me I look like her," she wrote in 2017.

Her account now has more than 100,000 followers, with the last post from a holiday in Corfu in June.

Gareyev reportedly underwent numerous cosmetic operations and was nicknamed "Ken Doll" by Russian tabloids for his resemblance to the male version of the Barbie Doll.

In a video released by investigators, he said he murdered Karaglanova, who he knew, because she humiliated him over his financial situation and sexuality.

The 33-year-old was ordered to serve his sentence in a strict-regime penal colony, the Moscow prosecutor's office said. 

He was also ordered to pay 2.5 million rubles ($38,000) in compensation to Karaglanova's family. 

She studied medicine at a top Moscow university and wrote she was doing a clinical residency. Her rented flat was in a quiet city district with a number of embassies. She reportedly competed in several beauty contests.

Russian activists have decried the country's record on violence against women.

There is currently no law defining domestic violence and according to official statistics there were 33,300 crimes involving violence in the family in 2018, 24,400 of them against women.