The man who killed a Russian journalist in 2001 will not face trial because the statute of limitations for the crime has expired, a police spokesperson said.
The journalist, 32-year-old Elina Voronova, who worked for the Rus television and radio company in the central Russian city of Kostroma, was killed near her home on the night of November 5, 2001.
Voronova was attacked on her way home from the library by a group of minors, one of whom tried to rape her. She was able to fight off that assault but was brutally beaten and ultimately thrown down a well, where her body was found the next day.
An autopsy determined that her death was the result of grievous head injuries and hypothermia.
“The suspect (in the murder) was detained in 2001 but we did not have enough evidence to charge him,” a senior police investigator in Kostroma, Ilyaz Abdurakhmanov, said.
The investigation was suspended. Years later, the case was reopened and a reconstruction of the crime obtained new evidence that compelled the suspect to confess his guilt. However, by that time the statute of limitations had expired.
The suspect's identity has not been disclosed because he was 17 at the time of the crime. However, it is known that he has six other criminal convictions and is currently serving a prison sentence.
