On the main street of the village of Stenkino, several dozen cars are slowly driving.
At a house with a large wooden shed, cars stop, people get out and walk in a discordant crowd down the road, throwing pine branches and scarlet carnations at it, and endless yellow birch leaves fall on people.
This is the road to the cemetery, 15-year-old Roman is buried there today.
Funeral cortege
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The 52-year-old Vladislav Tsikunov (the boy's stepfather) and his close friend, 29-year-old Maria Korneeva are suspected of the murder.
Perhaps the murder was of a ritual nature - Tsikunov himself spoke about this in the first testimony.
According to him, Korneeva, at his request, decided to make a love spell in order to return his ex-wife to him, she wanted to stun the boy and carve magic symbols on his back, but she accidentally killed him.
By now, the indications have changed.
The murder weapon has not yet been found.
People go and throw fir branches and flowers on the road.
They cannot understand how this was possible and what actually happened.
The dark man and the light boy
The house of the Fedulov family is neatly finished with white siding, but a large wooden shed immediately catches the eye, on the wall of which is painted the black head of an animal that looks like a tiger, with red eyes and large fangs.
“I don’t believe in ritual, he was not fond of anything like that.
The drawing on the wall of the barn was made by the eldest daughter, she finished nine classes and left - and finally, she decided to express herself.
He was a tyrant, everyone knew.
And she is good, she has set up a shed herself, the house is neat, teetotal, the children are decent.
He threatened her, beat her too, like all the neighbors know.
Found myself such a tyrant.
How did this come to him? "
- says the neighbor.
The house where the deceased boy lived
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“He is a dark man.
All in tattoos, boasted that he graduated from the radio institute in Ryazan, that he fought in Chechnya with the Mujahideen, such a brazen.
And she - on the contrary ... She is so submissive.
No complaints.
And the boy was bright, calm, ”says another.
Perhaps the neighbors are holding back something - especially since journalists are not welcome here, they are considered "vultures" who climb into someone else's grief.
But the fact is that one can clearly see through the cracks in the fence: wooden amulets are placed on the site, there are pillars with carved runes and solar symbols.
Roman's funeral service is in the church.
His father came to the funeral with his new wife - he shouts at journalists the most.
In the evening, only Roman's mother will come to the trial for choosing a preventive measure for the alleged murderers.
Tsikunov left here after the divorce, about a year ago, but continued to visit from time to time: the former spouses shared property.
Without exception, all neighbors and relatives of the Fedulovs speak with one voice about more than 40 threats.
Later this information will be confirmed by Elena Fedulova herself.
The police did not initiate proceedings against any of them.
"Where were you all: journalists, investigators, police - yes, you all, when my son was alive, and this one threatened her?"
- the father roars from pain.
And this is a perfectly fair question.
Sports, magic, criminal record
When you read the biographies of 52-year-old Vladislav Tsikunov and 29-year-old Maria Korneeva, it is very difficult to understand what could bring these people together.
Tsikunov was born in Ryazan, graduated from high school, served time for possession of weapons (now the criminal record has been extinguished), married Elena Fedulova, did not officially work anywhere, hacked cars repairing cars in that very shed garage.
Korneeva was born in Ramenskoye, Moscow Region, now she is studying at the magistracy of the Academy of Physical Culture, became a three-time champion of Russia in acheri-biathlon (biathlon, in which a bow is used instead of a rifle).
Judging by her ads on the Avito website, she earned money by helping to rent or sell apartments and land.
She got married (nee she bore the surname Pyatkin), but soon divorced.
I sold my apartment and left for Ryazan to work and play sports in the Almaz complex in order to further pursue my dream.
Korneeva even invented a simulator that helps increase accuracy in archery training.
In Ryazan, Korneeva bought an apartment on Ostrovsky Street.
A two-story brick house - a former dormitory - is not considered elite or even comfortable housing.
Not all apartments are inhabited.
Her door is now sealed.
House of Korneeva
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The neighbors say that they did not really have time to recognize the "newcomer".
“Quiet, calm girl, no parties.
Judging by the things that were drying on the balcony, she lived alone, ”recalls a neighbor, Korneeva.
They met Tsikunov on the Internet, but as to what was the reason, the testimony of their acquaintances diverged.
Some argue that Korneeva ordered some kind of biathlon simulator from him, but Elena Fedulova says something else: "They were brought together by the love of magic, she was also fond of it."
Tsikunov and Korneeva considered themselves practicing magicians and sold various "magic" artifacts to order through one of the major online aggregators of handmade stores (the name of the store is not given for ethical reasons). It offered "magic altars", runic amulets, as well as caskets and chests made of wood with "protective" signs. In the reviews of customers of this store in mid-2020, a certain Maria appears, who thanks for the sent runes and amulets, makes many orders and clearly begins active communication with the owner, although it is impossible to establish whether it was Korneeva.
“Slavic practicing sorcerer and witch, we make magical attributes: altars, amulets, amulets, atamas, runes, boxes, chests, protective dolls, handicrafts made of wood, bone, stone, forged metal, natural material ... Our works are made by hand in compliance with all the rules. We know how magic changes people's lives for the better, and, embodying our Gift in various products, we strive to make people's lives happier and easier ”- says the description of the VKontakte community, tied to a store on an online aggregator. From some point on, it was already led by two people from Ryazan, Vlad Savinkof and the Witch Vera Soboleva, whose few friends have only the basic account of Korneeva and all her relatives near Moscow. The users logged in for the last time on October 10, the day of the arrest of Korneeva and Tsikunov.
One way or another, but this couple began to live together from the beginning of this year.
All this time, Tsikunov continued to threaten his ex-wife.
Whether Korneeva knew about this is difficult to say.
As a result, both ended up at the same point from which there can be no return.
Near the old well, covered with aircraft tires.
Korneeva and Tsikunov threw the dead body of 15-year-old Roman into this well.
In this (running ahead, let's say that only in this), there are no discrepancies in their testimony.
Well, aviation, body
The well in which the boy's body was found is located in a small grove among plowed agricultural fields between the villages of Hirino and Zimenki.
“The boy disappeared on the 8th, but the search began only on the 11th (Tsikunov was detained on the 10th. -
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), because the family at first thought that he was offended by something and ran away from home.
If Tsikunov had not confessed to the murder, the body would not have been found without attracting a huge resource of search engines for total combing of a huge square or without attracting special equipment, "one of the search participants told us.
The body of a boy was found at this place
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“If you don’t know that there is a gatehouse and a well in this grove, you won’t find this place by accident,” say local agricultural workers.
They themselves learned about its existence only from journalists, despite the fact that they have been cultivating the land around for years.
A clay trail in the middle of the fields leads to the grove.
If it rained the day before, it is impossible to drive on it: a car without a high suspension will simply get stuck.
Black clay soil, greasy from fertilizers, yellow fields and birches with branches on which golden bells of foliage burn, autumn gray sky, silence.
Dense thickets, a barely visible path between them, suddenly - a clearing on which there is a dilapidated hut, where old things, bottles, newspapers from ten years ago are scattered.
Next to her is the black opening of the well.
The notorious aircraft tires are stacked next to it, next to it is a bench.
Local residents say that in Soviet times there was a summer residence for one of the pilots, but the site has been abandoned for many years.
At the bottom of the well, they found the boy's body.
“It would be better for us not to know about this place.
Or it would be better if it did not exist at all, ”the local peasants say through clenched teeth.
The wrench and knife with which Roman was killed may be somewhere here, but so far the Investigative Committee has not been able to find the murder weapon.
Tsikunov knew for sure about the existence of this place in advance and did not drive at random, but knowing that he could drive on clay off-road.
There are no ritual symbols near the gatehouse.
How he found out about her is still unknown.
One sat in the car, the other killed
Tsikunova and Korneeva choose a preventive measure on one day - the day of Roman's funeral.
It is not known if they know about this, but they behave differently in court.
Tsikunov - a puny youngish man with an uneven short haircut - is calm to the point of impudence and almost indifferent to what is happening.
His appointed attorney does not make any requests and calmly listens to the protocol of the confrontation between Korneeva and her client, in which there is not a word about ritual murder, but opposite versions of events are revealed.
According to Tsikunov, "guided by motives of personal hostility," he "persuaded his girlfriend Korneeva to kill Roman."
Tsikunov knew that Roman's mother worked as a breeder at one of the stud farms in the region on a rotational basis.
Knowing that she was not at home, Tsikunov and Korneeva arrived there by car.
Further, according to Tsikunov, Korneeva allegedly entered the house, killed the boy with a wrench and a knife, and then he helped her to wash off the blood and take the body to the well.
Korneeva's version is the opposite: Tsikunov allegedly told her that he needed to go to the house of his ex-wife, pick up some things, went there, returned with blood and ordered her to help clean the house.
“I saw Roman's body with his hands tied with tape.
While I was washing the blood, Tsikunov wrapped Roman's legs with a black bag, ”says Korneeva's testimony.
In the description of what follows, these two are already united: together they drove the body to the well and threw it there, after which they went to wash off the blood from the car.
It was not possible to completely get rid of the traces: when Tsikunov came under suspicion, the investigators checked his car and shoes and found traces of blood, the DNA of which matched Roman's DNA.
A day after that, Tsikunov confessed and told where he hid the body.
According to Korneeva, she was silent, since Tsikunov said that they would not be found and threatened her too.
Tsikunov was quickly arrested for two months - until December 10.
Korneeva takes a different position and does not admit her guilt in the murder.
She is tense and peers into the audience, perhaps trying to find at least a trace of sympathy.
She is short, athletic, with well-defined cheekbones and brown hair.
She has two lawyers: one by appointment, the other by agreement, hired by her relatives from Ramenskoye.
Lawyers quietly advise her something.
"Maria!
So did you kill the child?
Tell the truth now! "
- shouts one of the local journalists in her face.
Korneeva recoils and leans over to the lawyer, who quietly advises: "Don't react, keep quiet."
Suddenly she shouts in a hoarse high voice: “I didn't kill Roman!
Vlad set me up! "
After that, Korneeva pauses and sits, staring at the floor, pulling the mask on her face.
The lawyers file a petition for house arrest instead of detention, drawing attention to the fact that Korneeva has a permanent place of residence, her family is ready to support her, that she has sporting merits and positive characteristics.
The position of Korneeva's defense is that she only helped Tsikunov to hide the traces of the crime, but she was innocent of the murder itself.
The investigation, by the way, objects to this version and says that there are sufficient grounds to consider it directly involved.
However, the question of guilt at the court session on the choice of a preventive measure is not considered in any case.
They call Olga Pyatkina, her mother.
She comes in and in a trembling voice tells how good Masha was, how she took care of her younger sisters while they were growing up, how she introduced them to sports sections, studied and dreamed of great sports.
“Tell us about your daughter’s relationship with Tsikunov,” the lawyer suggests.
- Maria falls in love with people and begins to idealize them.
She is fascinated and does not see any flaws, and then she is severely disappointed, '' explains Pyatkina.
It is not surprising that the court is not convinced by her arguments.
Korneeva is sent to the pre-trial detention center after Tsikunov, before giving the lawyer a “note for mom”.
The lawyer explained to me that Korneeva's parents found him "by word of mouth" and that he talked to her in the IVS and decided to enter the case, since he was sure of her innocence.
Korneeva's version of innocence does not convince the main, as well as the only (except for the press) spectator in the hall.
The very same Elena Fedulova, who went to court instead of being present at the commemoration of her son.
The only spectator
Elena Fedulova is the only person from among Roman's friends and relatives who went to court.
When asked why her father did not come, she just throws: "Ask him."
Fedulova, a diminutive woman in simple black clothes, sits and looks at the people in the prison's aquarium.
She answers questions, but flatly refuses any filming.
“I have complained to the police about the threats many times.
According to many statements, no checks were even carried out.
It all started when I told him I was filing for divorce.
Vladislav is such a person - two-faced, vile, he does everything on the sly.
At the end of last year, I learned about his infidelity, about dark deeds ... He answered all the questions about when, they say, get a permanent job, answered: "Why work for my uncle?"
I got money somehow ... Somehow.
Directly he was afraid of me, he, in general, is so cowardly enough.
He just ceased to be necessary for him, and he decided to destroy me, but to come from behind, ”says Fedulova.
Tsikunov introduced her to Korneeva, and Elena got the following opinion: “I don't believe her. She is envious. She envied everyone: me, her sisters ... because she was the eldest and her parents forced her to devote all the time to them. She cursed when she remembered being forced to be the "trainer" for the sisters. This is how they presented everything in court, but in fact she spoke negatively about the family. "
Fedulova says that the wooden statues-amulets and pillars with runes and solar symbols were installed in their courtyard by Tsikunov, convincing her that this was “for protection”: “She and Korneeva had joint deals in magic, and then their roof fell out of it ... I had something to do with this hobby of his, while everything was fine - well, they say, whatever the child was having fun ... As for her - pay attention, she did not say that she was sorry, that she offered condolences. She thinks of herself: how to wriggle out, how she suffers, that she ended up in a pre-trial detention center.
Only Fedulova had a permanent income in the family.
In recent years, she has worked "in any kind of earnings", mainly in agriculture, but recently decided to finally do what she loves - horses.
All this is shift work, as tens of thousands of women live in rural areas.
However, at the funeral among classmates there were also those who said that because of the need to constantly earn money and because of problems with men, her son did little.
While the journalists are talking with the prosecutor, trying to find out the details of what happened, Fedulova does not even listen.
She answers questions in an indifferent tone, and if left alone, she freezes, looking straight ahead at one point.
Needles and flowers
As already mentioned, in the testimony of the confrontation between Korneeva and Tsikunov, quoted at the trial, there is not a word about ritual goals, but "personal enmity" is mentioned.
Otherwise, their testimonies are mirrored to each other: one was sitting in the car and did not know anything, the second killed, and the one who was waiting in ignorance in a state of shock helped to hide the tracks.
The version that a man asks his common-law wife to bewitch his ex-wife to him by inflicting wounds on her son looks, to put it mildly, strange.
At the same time, no one denies Korneeva and Tsikunov's hobbies for magic.
But if Tsikunov so believed in a love spell and so wanted to return his ex-wife, why did he threaten her every week for a whole year?
And most importantly, it is no longer ritual.
Why did the police not react to any of the statements?
The press service of the regional department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs told reporters: “During the year, statements were received from the mother and stepfather of the deceased teenager.
The conflicts between them were related to the division of property and hostile relations ... There were no grounds for initiating criminal cases, since all the precedents either lay in the field of civil law relations or had no real basis. "
The real ground is the ability to enforce a threat.
And the threat was eventually carried out, which means that there was real ground.
As for the fellow villagers, they described this family as not very remarkable.
In the end, everyday conflicts are also a matter of everyday life, so neighbors and relatives sympathized with Elena, but did nothing to besiege Tsikunov, fearing, moreover, of his "combat past" or "ties with bandits", about which he spoke a lot and willingly ...
The result of the madness and ill will of some and the indifference of others is a path of coniferous branches and flowers.
This is how the coffins are seen off to the cemetery in the Ryazan region.
The funeral itself does not last long.
Lumps of fresh earth are flying into the grave, the parents who have become silent classmates are transported home in cars.
Search engines return to new signals "Missing person!"
The villagers are discussing the autumn work on the plots.
A well is grinning in a secret grove with a black toothless mouth.
Somewhere in the night, another person in another region receives threats.
Roman is asleep, golden birch leaves are circling above him.
One by one, they will fall until they have completely covered his bed.