Yana Legkodimova: Defendants Questioned in the Homicide Case

On October 28, the defendants were questioned in court, reports an Orda.kz correspondent.

At the previous hearing, the court reviewed the correspondence between Yana Legkodimova and Rizuan Khairzhanov, as well as the victim’s personal diary, which became an important piece of evidence in the case.

This session focused on questioning the accused.

Both defendants refused to testify or respond to the court’s questions. Their pre-trial statements were read aloud, in which they had pleaded not guilty.

In court, the defendants admitted that the murder was committed by a group acting in concert but denied the charges of kill-for-hire and theft of the victim’s phone.

One of the accused, Khairzhanov, turned to the victim’s memory, saying tearfully:

During the hearing, it was revealed that potassium permanganate was found in Khairzhanov’s car, stored separately in a box.

When asked why he had it, he replied, “For necessity.” Investigators had established that the defendants had discussed the possibility of using potassium permanganate as a poison, suggesting they planned to poison the victim.

The couple who discovered Yana Legkodimova’s remains on a riverbank on June 20, 2025, also testified. A video recording from the discovery site was reviewed in court — only the skull, spine, and several ribs were found.

Thank you for not leaving the remains unattended, for reporting them to the police, and for fulfilling your civic duty,
 said Judge Zarema Khamidullina, addressing the witnesses.

Before the video was shown, Galina Legkodimova, the victim’s mother, requested to leave the courtroom, explaining she could not bear to see her daughter’s remains. The court granted her request.

Witnesses testified that when they were at the site on May 13, no remains were present, raising the question of how they appeared by May 20. One theory is that animals might have carried them.

The prosecution also presented an audio recording of a conversation between defendant Altynbek Katimov and his cellmates, in which Katimov allegedly said:

According to investigators, this statement confirms his involvement.

Authorities believe Katimov committed the homicide at the request of a friend for a 500,000 tenge reward. However, both defendants deny the accusation and claim no money was exchanged.

The victim’s representatives have requested the court to reclassify the charges under Article 292 (“Organized criminal group”), as well as under paragraphs 2, 7, and 15 of Part 2 of Article 99 (“Homicide”), and additionally under Article 434 (“Failure to report a crime”) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Original Author: Daniel Arturov