Yana Legkodimova: Atyrau Court Sentences Defendants in Homicide Trial to Life

In Atyrau, a court has delivered its verdict in the homicide case of 23-year-old Yana Legkodimova. Judge Zarema Khamidullina sentenced both defendants to life imprisonment, Orda.kz reports.

How The Events Unfolded

Rizuan Kaiyrzhanov was in a relationship with Yana, whom he met while studying at the Atyrau University of Oil and Gas. At the same time, he was seeing another woman. When Yana discovered this, she said she would tell the other woman the truth, and the two began to argue.

Fearing the consequences, Rizuan decided to kill her. He offered his friend Altynbek 500,000 tenge to help carry out the crime, and Altynbek agreed.

After discussing several scenarios, the two men strangled Yana and later disposed of her body in the Ural River.

The Evidence

A key piece of evidence was Yana’s diary, which she kept shortly before she disappeared. Her entries helped investigators reconstruct the events and identify suspects.

Eight months after her disappearance, on June 20 of this year, human remains were found along the riverbank. Forensic analysis confirmed they belonged to Yana. Her mother later claimed the body and held a burial in the West Kazakhstan region.

Due to significant decomposition, experts could not determine the exact cause of death, though they did identify postmortem injuries.

The prosecutor’s office and the victim’s mother both requested life sentences for the defendants.

Outcome

The case drew significant public attention, with many social media posts calling for a just verdict. Local residents attended the hearings.

Today, the court found Rizuan Kaiyrzhanov and his accomplice, Altynbek Katimov, guilty of committing homicide by prior conspiracy.

Both were sentenced to life imprisonment in a maximum-security facility.

Original Author: Daniel Arturov