Russian ‘Sausage King’ murder investigators find elderly man handcuffed to bed during search of chief suspect's home

A police investigation into the crossbow murder of a Moscow region sausage tycoon has uncovered an extraordinary new twist after a search of the main suspect's home for evidence instead found a pensioner handcuffed to a bed frame.

A second man was said to be present, watching over the prisoner. According to the Investigative Committee of Russia, the imprisoned man believed he was being held in an extortion attempt, with his captors attempting to force him to sign over his apartment. 

The revelation hints that there might have been a wider criminal, perhaps mafia, group behind the gruesome killing of 54-year-old meat mogul Vladimir Marugov.

It may also indicate that Marugov, killed in front of his wife while relaxing in a sauna, could have also been targeted for coercion by organized fraudsters, rather than random thieves. The couple were tied up while the intruders demanded money from them.

His spouse, named by Russian media outlets as Sabina Gaziyeva, escaped through a window and called the police. But by the time they arrived, Marugov, known as the ‘Sausage King’, had been killed with a shot from a crossbow.

Police have detained one suspect. Moscow tabloid MK named him as 49-year-old Alexander Mavridi, a native of Kazakhstan and long-time resident of the southern Krasnodar region.

The Committee’s report stated that Mavridi “acquired the crossbow in a shop in Moscow and was directly involved in the attack on the businessman.” He has reportedly refused to cooperate with the investigation.

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