A businessman is suspected of killing his wife and two daughters in Moscow to spare them the trouble of having to pay off his big debts, the Russian capital's top investigator said Sunday.
"Case materials are being prepared to be submitted to a court tomorrow to choose a measure of restraint for the man," Anatoly Bagmet said.
Inna Chernysheva and her daughters Margarita, 12, and Yekaterina, 7, were killed on Saturday in southeastern Moscow. Chernysheva's son discovered the bodies.
The businessman, Yury Merkind, said his debts made him kill his family. Merkind turned himself in to police in the city of Vladimir east of Moscow on Saturday evening. If found guilty of murder, he faces up to life imprisonment.
"The suspect says he did not want his family to become a hostage to [his financial] situation," Bagmet said.
Merkind also reportedly wanted to shoot himself after the crime but ran out of bullets.
MOSCOW, March 21 (RIA Novosti)
