Valued his ex-wife’s life at $10,000: pensioner suspected of commissioning a murder
A hitman turned out to be fake, but the handcuffs were real: police rescued the ex-wife
In the Kyiv region, law enforcement prevented a contract killing of a woman which, according to investigators, was organized by her 70-year-old ex-husband. He allegedly promised the potential perpetrator $10,000, and after the woman’s elimination planned to forge her will and seize her property. The Office of the Prosecutor General, the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office and the Kyiv Region police reported the exposure of the crime on 2 July 2026. The man was charged with organizing a completed attempt on premeditated murder for mercenary motives, carried out on order.
According to the investigation, the suspect lived with the victim in marriage for more than 30 years. The couple, who have 2 adult sons, officially divorced in 2021, but numerous conflicts and court disputes over the division of joint property continued between the ex-husband and ex-wife afterwards. Investigators established that the disputes concerned at least 8 real estate objects. The man was reportedly unhappy with how the court allocated the apartments and the garage. In addition, he was to be ordered to pay the ex-wife more than UAH 2.5 million in compensation. Attempts to overturn the decision on appeal did not produce the desired result for him.
According to law enforcement, after that the 70-year-old man decided to arrange the murder of his ex-wife. At first he asked an acquaintance to find someone who would agree to commit the crime. At this stage the information reached law enforcement, which took the suspect’s further actions under control. During a personal meeting with the so-called perpetrator, the man allegedly gave detailed information about the former wife’s whereabouts, possible routes of her movement and handed over photographs of the woman. He also provided an address, a hand-drawn layout of the house and asked to transport the body to a forest after the killing.
As an advance for the crime the client handed over $5,000. He was to give another $5,000 after receiving confirmation that the woman had been killed. The total cost of the contract killing, according to the investigation, amounted to $10,000. However, eliminating the ex-wife was only part of the alleged plan. The investigation claims that the man also wanted to forge her will so that after the woman’s death he would obtain the real estate the court had left to her. To this end he allegedly gave the perpetrator a copy of the victim’s passport and samples of her signature. The suspect was prepared to pay an additional $3,000 separately for forging the will.
The man did not know that he was communicating not with a real hired killer but with people acting under police control. Law enforcement officers documented meetings in a car and a café, and later carried out a special operation staging the murder. The victim was made up, after which staged photographs were taken that were intended to look like proof of her death. The so-called killer told the client that the woman had allegedly been stabbed to death in a country house and sent a prepared photo report. Convinced that the order had supposedly been carried out, the man agreed to another meeting to hand over the second part of the reward. While handing over the remaining $5,000 at a gas station, law enforcement detained the suspect. During urgent searches of the detainee’s residence and car, items and documents that may have evidentiary value for the criminal proceedings were seized.
The man is accused of organizing a completed attempt on premeditated murder committed for mercenary motives and on order, under part 2 of Article 15, part 3 of Article 27, paragraphs 6 and 11 of part 2 of Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. He was also notified of suspicion in a completed attempt to forge an official document under Article 15 and Article 358 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
The suspect was remanded in custody without the right to post bail. If convicted, he may face up to 15 years imprisonment or life imprisonment with confiscation of property. The pretrial investigation is ongoing. According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent until their guilt is proven in accordance with the law and established by a guilty verdict of a court.
Earlier we wrote:
- SBU foiled an RF plan: ex-serviceman prepared a $100k drone assassination of a GUR representative
- They wanted a “gift” for May 9: SBU foiled an assassination attempt on a senior Navy official of the Armed Forces in Odesa
- The bicycle did not help: the “tourist” killer failed a special task of Russian handlers
- Killing “series”: in Mykolaiv investigators are conducting the case of an RF agent who attempted on a high-ranking serviceman
- The assassination was planned through Mykolaiv region: SBU detained an FSB killer
