"Such a tall guy, a hockey player." Details of the murder of a pregnant Minsk resident

The disappearance of 43-year-old Tatsiana Martishchanka became known on Tuesday: relatives contacted the police when the woman stopped responding. Already at the initial stage of the search, volunteers noted that this was "an atypical disappearance."

On Friday, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported the tragedy: the missing woman, who was five to six months pregnant, was found murdered. The suspect was a 38-year-old Minsk resident with whom she was in a close relationship. Onliner visited the house where the deceased had recently lived and found out what happened on the eve of the tragedy.

Neighbors from the entrance: "A tall guy, a hockey player, always appeared next to Tanya"

For the last couple of years, Tatsiana rented an apartment in a Stalin-era building in the very center of Minsk — in one of those houses where a quiet different side of life is hidden behind the ceremonial facade. In the entrance where Tatsiana lived, there are only two apartments per floor.

— The day before, I don't remember exactly if it was September 6 or 7, we were riding the elevator together, as usual, exchanging a few phrases. Tanya was always so attentive, polite — an incredibly sweet girl. She lived alone in the apartment directly above me. Sometimes I heard the footsteps of her bare feet, but for screams or swearing to come from there — no, never in my presence was there such a thing, — says the downstairs neighbor. — Late on Thursday evening, a couple, a man and a woman, came to me, asking about her. What, has Tanechka been found? <…> Merciful God, what a horror!...

It is almost impossible to hear the sound of a struggle or cries for help from the rooms on the upper floors: most residents note that the sound insulation in this Stalin-era building is fine. No one could hear children running or a dog barking.

Павялічыць

— So all of this came as a real shock to all of us, because no one heard anything [suspicious], — residents recall. — On Tuesday evening, Tanya's parents rang the intercom, asking to open the door to the entrance: they said they didn't have keys and couldn't reach her. And on Wednesday, they came with the police: they found the landlady and were able to open the door. Nothing like that was found in the apartment then. The parents went in: the money was there, Tanya was not. Later, they said that on Thursday evening, he [the detainee] was brought in handcuffs, and everything here, in the yard, was turned upside down.

According to the interlocutor, judging by the fragment of the detainee's interrogation published by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, this is the young man who periodically appeared next to Tatsiana before her death.

— She was an active girl. We didn't have close interactions, like girlfriends, but maintained good neighborly relations. Sometimes a tall guy, a hockey player, was next to her; no one else was noticed near her. He always appeared with such a huge hockey bag…

Павялічыць

None of the neighbors suspected that Tanya was expecting a child. They note that she was outwardly miniature, fragile — with such a physique, something would hardly be noticeable at five or six months pregnant.

But the romance between Tanya and "her hockey player" was hard to miss. Another neighbor from the same entrance, Natalia (name changed at her request), previously told Onliner about it: "We knew he was an athlete and often left for training camps.

What happened simply doesn't make sense: with Tanya, he always behaved very politely, gently; he courted her beautifully."

It is also known that Tatsiana was an obstetrician-gynecologist by profession, and for some time she worked in one of the capital's maternity hospitals. Then she started developing her own business related to the medical field (according to neighbors).

"I knew Tatsiana, she rented an apartment from me for a year and a half. She worked for a prestigious foreign company, managing a direction related to knee joints. From her first marriage, she had an adult daughter who was professionally involved in figure skating," wrote an Onliner reader.

What is known about the detainee

As reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, a 38-year-old Minsk resident was detained on suspicion of murdering 43-year-old Tatsiana Martishchanka. He confessed to the investigators that he had a close relationship with the deceased and knew that she was expecting his child." At the same time, he was officially in another relationship, which led to conflicts between them.

As the suspect himself stated, during another argument, he stabbed the victim several times with a knife, and then carried the body out of the apartment in a sports bag.

In the excerpt shown by the department, there is a moment when he passes through an arch with that same bag. It seems it was daytime. He then transported and buried the body in a forest in the Minsk district, buying a shovel along the way and getting rid of the evidence: he threw the bloody items and the deceased Tatsiana's phone under a bridge.

The suspect, we remind, was detained within 24 hours, and a criminal case has been initiated against him.

Павялічыць

Deceased's classmates: "Tanya was the only daughter in the family"

The murder of Tatsiana Martishchanka caused a great public outcry.

Several of the deceased's classmates immediately contacted the Onliner editorial office with a request to publish a collective letter. It states that Tatsiana was the only child of her parents; in 2006, she graduated from the Faculty of General Medicine at BSMU and worked as an obstetrician-gynecologist.

"We, Tatsiana Martishchanka's classmates from medical university, address you, deeply shaken by the news of her death. Tanya was our class elder. The person on whom the entire group relied during their student years: responsible, reliable, invariably kind and supportive. People came to her for help and advice, and she never refused.

She achieved everything in life herself. She graduated from university, obtained the specialty of obstetrician-gynecologist — a profession in which new life is helped to appear every day. She raised her daughter, pouring her whole soul into her, supporting her hobbies and sports. She was the only daughter in the family and a pillar for her parents. Everything she achieved was earned by her own work, character, and kindness. It is unbearably painful for us to realize that her happiness, her life, and the life of a new little person within her were cut short like this.

This is impossible to understand, comprehend, and accept. But we really want to say that behind the sparse lines of news stands a living, bright, and very dignified person whom we knew and loved. We ask for only one thing: that Tatsiana be spoken of with respect. Not as an "incident," but as a woman, a doctor, and a mother, whose every day was about caring for others. Bright memory to our dear Tanechka," the appeal reads.

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