(PresidentialHill.com)- A Russian oligarch suspected of slaughtering his wife and teenage daughter before committing suicide was killed, according to his son, who made the accusation today.
Sergey Protosenya, a multi-millionaire former gas executive, was found hanging in the yard of his opulent Spanish vacation house. The remains of his wife Natalya and their 18-year-old daughter Maria were discovered inside, both chopped to death with an ax. The investigation is ongoing.
Spanish investigators had speculated that Mr. Protosenya, 55, murdered the couple before turning the gun on himself in an uncommon fit of fury when the family was on vacation on the Costa Brava last week over the Easter holiday.
He was the deputy chairman of big Russian gas company Novotek at his death. Still, his son Fedor claims his father, who was also the company’s deputy chairman, “could never hurt” his wife and daughter and that all three members of his family were killed.
‘My father is not a murderer,’ Fedor Protosenya stated in an interview with MailOnline.
Mr. Protosenya did not leave a suicide note, and no fingerprints were recovered on the weapons he used to commit the murder – an ax and a knife – that he used to kill himself and others. There were no bloodstains anywhere on his person.
The findings of the post-mortem exams of the three bodies that were carried out over the weekend have been withheld by Spanish authorities, claiming ‘police investigation confidentiality’ as their justification.
He was absent from the property since he had spent Easter with his family in Bordeaux, France. Fedor is a 22-year-old university student who lives in the villa.
“He adored my mother and especially Maria, my sister,” he explained of his father. She was his princess, after all. He would never be able to hurt them in any way. It is unclear what transpired that night, but I am confident that my father did not harm them.’
Fedor said that the police had instructed him not to speak about the matter. In the middle of last week, he became concerned when he could not contact any of his family members via phone.
After arriving at the property, police discovered Mr. Protosenya hanging in the courtyard and the mutilated remains of his wife Natalia, 53, and daughter Maria inside.
Protosenya was identified as the perpetrator of the double murder and suicide, according to the regional police commander, Commissioner Josep Milan, who indicated that evidence pointed to him as the perpetrator.
This is what we’re looking at right now,’ he explained. ‘The detectives are concentrating on a guy who committed suicide and two slain persons at home.’
In the small Russian community in the resort of Lloret de Mar on Spain’s Costa Brava, where Mr. Protosenya had purchased a family vacation house ten years ago, the horrific killings have sent shockwaves through the town.
“Sergey did not do it,” said Anatoly Timoshenko, a businessman and close friend of the Russian magnate. Sergey did not assassinate members of his family. It’s just not doable. I don’t want to detail what could have happened at the house that night, but I am confident that Sergey is not a serial murderer.’
A further buddy, Roman Yuravich, stated that Sergey did not murder his family. I’ve known him for eleven years at this point. He was a contented man. He was devoted to his family. That he did not kill his wife and kid is undeniable. ‘I am certain.’
In the last year, four inexplicable deaths of executives from Russian gas companies and their families tied to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s close circle have been reported in the Russian media.
A few days before, the body of Vladislav Avayev, together with his wife Yelena and 13-year-old daughter Maria, was discovered in their exclusive Moscow apartment in what seemed to be another possible murder-suicide.
Mr. Avayev, 51, was formerly the president of Gazprombank, a bank established to serve the interests of Russian gas giant Gazprom and a senior figure in the Kremlin.
The remains of top Gazprom officials Alexander Tyulakov and Leonid Shulman, who was found in their luxurious flats in an upscale housing estate outside St Petersburg in February, had been pummeled and slaughtered.
The Russian natural gas corporation Novatek, where Protosenya had served as vice chairman before retiring with a £300 million fortune, has also thrown doubt on the possibility of being involved in the heinous crimes in question.
Sergey Protosenya established himself as a remarkable individual, an excellent family guy, and a strong professional who made a significant contribution to the foundation and development of the firm, according to a statement released by Novatek.
Unfortunately, speculations have emerged in the media about this topic, but we are convinced that these speculations bear no relation to reality
