MAN JAILED FOR BRUTAL DOUBLE MURDER OF EX-WIFE AND MOTHER-IN-LAW
A 44-year-old man, Sergei Zolotovsky, has been sentenced to life imprisonment after being convicted of murdering his ex-wife Svetlana Zolotovska, aged 40, and her mother Antonina Belska, aged 70, in East London.The court revealed that Zolotovsky attacked Svetlana as she was heading to work in Beckton Park, repeatedly stabbing her and then slashing her throat.
The motivation for this act was linked to his anger over a financial agreement reached during their divorce, finalized just two days before the crime.
Following the assault on Svetlana, he went to their former residence in Newham, where he murdered Mrs.
Belska by stabbing her, then tried to set the house on fire and even attempted suicide by slicing his own wrists and throat.
His court appearance was made while lying in a hospital bed, a first in legal history, and he was swiftly convicted of both murders by a jury in just over half an hour.
Victims’ families delivered emotional statements describing their distress and horror at the violence involved.
Twelve days after the murders, Zolotovsky was left paralyzed from the waist down after a failed suicide attempt while in prison.
The judge described his conduct as 'pitiless' with 'extreme violence,' and noted that his perception of his ex-wife’s unfaithfulness was a factor in his rage.
The defense highlighted his sense of injustice and anger due to recent court proceedings as contributing to the killings.
He received a sentence of at least 30 years in prison.
