“At my age, it’s probably unlikely to go to the front, they don’t take us,” Zhilka leader Yury Marukhin said in court today about his plans to get parole. 17 years after the life sentence was imposed, Marukhin repented of the murder 25 years ago, and today the Aircraft Building Court pronounced a sentence on him. About why the leader of “Zhilka” agreed to organize the murder, what he thinks about this act decades later, how he hopes to spend the rest of his life and why he believes in liberation – in the report “BUSINESS Online”.
How Marukhin went on a “tour” from the “Polar Owl” to Kazan
Yury Marukhin, the leader of the Zhilka organized crime group, was transferred to Kazan last spring. He confessed to the murder 25 years ago while serving his sentence at the Snowy Owl. We recall that he ended up in this colony after the verdict in 2006, when he was given capital punishment for organizing the Zhilka criminal community and a number of murders committed both by him and on his instructions after the death of the founder of the organized crime group Khaidar Zakirov.
The Polar Owl is one of the harshest prisons in Russia, actually located in an icy desert. A number of our interlocutors generally call it the place with the most difficult conditions for convicts in the country, where desperate, doomed prisoners are winding their terms. For example, there is almost no land communication with the colony in winter. Therefore, for Marukhin, who has not seen his native land for more than 17 years, the trip to Kazan itself is akin to a resort. Life-sentenced prisoners, by the way, often resort to such a practice, because for them this is the only opportunity to leave the colony.
What was the leader of Zhilka accused of?
The whole “business trip” of Marukhin to his homeland, to Kazan, including the time of the preliminary investigation, participation in operational-investigative measures and the trials themselves, took a little more than a year. Approximately five months of them, the case was considered in the Aviastroitelny District Court of Kazan. During this time, the victim visited the court – the elderly mother of the murdered participant of the “Northern” and even the former killer of “Zhilka” Alexei Snezhinsky (Snezhok), who was released from prison in 2016.
“I was younger and thought that if I did differently, more people would suffer”
An end to the new case of Marukhin was put to an end today at the Aviation Building Court of Kazan. In the debate, the representative of the prosecutor’s office noted that the defendant’s guilt was confirmed by the collected evidence in the case, including the fact that Marukhin logically and consistently outlined all the events of that time, showed the places where there were meetings with the killers, and also where the money was transferred to them.
Yuri Marukhin: “I can’t say that my conscience has stuck with me … I just wanted to help the investigation”
When imposing a sentence, the state prosecution asked to take into account a mitigating circumstance in the form of actively contributing to the disclosure of a crime, as well as the absence of aggravating circumstances. In her speech, the prosecutor suddenly noted that according to the current place of serving the sentence, Marukhin is characterized as “mediocre”. As a result, Marukhina was asked to be sentenced to 15 years in a special regime colony, and, according to the totality of the sentences imposed, to life imprisonment.
The defendant himself refused to speak in the debate. The floor was taken by his defender – the famous Kazan lawyer Alexander Kogan. He also noted that Marukhin wrote a confession, pointed out in sufficient detail the events that preceded the murder. “He did not keep the money from the murder of Shitov, and moreover, he did not need it. Firstly, it was revenge for the murder of Gainutdinov, and secondly, it was the salvation of the guys, ”said Kogan. During the debate, the lawyer explained that Shitov’s unlawful actions were the reason for the murder.
Kogan drew the attention of the court to the fact that the murder was committed 25 years ago, which means that the term for criminal liability has expired.
In the last word, the leader of Zhilka was brief, but emotional: “I don’t remove my guilt, yes, I’m guilty. But then I was younger and thought that if I did it differently, more people would suffer. Basically, he [Шитов] I didn’t do anything good or bad…”
“Parallel is our last hope, hope dies last”
After hearing the parties, the presiding judge Aleksey Terekhov retired to the deliberation room, while the participants in the process remained in the hall. It was obvious that they did not plan to drag out the sentencing on one small episode.
It would seem that Marukhin was awaiting the verdict not for the first time in his life, and all the worst seemed to be left behind, but behind the glass of the “aquarium” he was still noticeably nervous. Perhaps he had a glimmer of hope that the court would really not impose a punishment on him due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.
During the break, Marukhin even announced that he was waiting for the 25-year term to be served in order to qualify for parole. “We just live with it. This is our last hope, hope dies last. There is nothing more to hope for … – he said and immediately commented on the likelihood of going to the NMD, as, for example, the inmates went to the Wagner PMC battalions: – At my age, it is probably unlikely that it will be possible to go to the front, we [пожизненно осужденных] they don’t take it.”
After 20 minutes, the judge left the deliberation room and ruled: to find Marukhin guilty of organizing a murder by prior conspiracy (clauses “g”, “h”, part 2 of article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and to appoint him 12 years in a colony, and on the basis of the total of those appointed punishment is life imprisonment. At the same time, the court determined that this punishment should be set off in the period already served by Marukhin.
“I wanted the best, it turned out as always,” Marukhin commented on his sentence to the correspondent of BUSINESS Online. The man also expressed a desire to appeal the verdict, but in his case it would rather be a technical issue. When a person is tried for a crime of particular danger, it is up to the court to determine the statute of limitations.
During his stay in Kazan, Marukhin was visited by his brother, who was also convicted of crimes from the times of Zhilka, from time to time Marukhin calls up his only daughter.
Now the issue of the return of the leader of Zhilka to the Polar Owl will depend on how long the process of appealing the verdict will be. True, our sources close to law enforcement agencies claim that he will not return there, but will be transferred to one of the colonies in central Russia. Such a kind of reward for helping the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the TFR to remove the hanging from many years ago. But almost certainly Marukhin will see Kazan for the last time.
