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Norfolk Eastern Daily Press, UK
Oct 15 2005
Man `confessed killing to me'
15 October 2005 07:00
A woman told a jury at Norwich Crown Court yesterday a relative
confessed to her he had killed a man whose body was found burnt in a
field.
Detectives spent almost a year trying to identify the body of
42-year-old Armenian Hovanhannes Amirian, whose body was found at
Upton, near Peterborough in December 2002.
Armenians Nishan Bakunts, 28, and his father-in-law Misha
Chatsjatrjan, 44, allegedly killed their countryman Amirian - also
known as Sako - over a 'family quarrel', then sought to destroy
evidence linking them to him.
Sako was said to have been shot and stabbed in the medical room at
the Cooper Roller Bearings factory at King's Lynn, where Bakunts was
a security officer. His body was then taken to the field and set on
fire.
Giving evidence yesterday, Bakunts's sister, Irina Aroustamian, who
is seeking asylum to live in Belgium, said when she spoke to
Chatsjatrjan - her brother's father-in-law - he had confessed to
putting eight bullets into Sako's head.
She said he made his confession as at the time he thought he had
liver cancer and had three months to live.
Speaking through an interpreter, Ms Aroustamian said Chatsjatrjan
told her Sako had gone on his knees and pleaded to him: "Don't kill
me, I have children".
She said after the killing her brother helped Chatsjatrjan clean up
the room.
Cross-examined by Nigel Lithman, QC, defending Chatsjatrjan, she
denied she had been telling a "pack of lies."
The jury also heard more details about the dead man Sako being wanted
for questioning about the murder of Pogosian Ernait, who was killed
on November 30, 2000 at Ostend, in Belgium.
Det Chief Inspector Kurt Devilder, of the Belgian police, told the
jury that he had helped with the identification of Sako by obtaining
DNA samples from the dead man's child.
He said Bakunts was originally linked to the murder of Mr Ernait but
further investigations eliminated him from the inquiry and it was
found that references to him had been made maliciously.
He agreed that Sako was now suspected of being the culprit.
Det Chief Insp Devilder also said that Sako was known for extorting
money from members of the Armenian community and was a
"self-confessed Mafia man" who was feared within the Armenian
community in Belgium.
Bakunts, of Lichfield Road, Yarmouth, and Chatsjatrjan, who was
living in Holland, have both denied murdering Sako, who was the
Godfather of Bakunts and his wife Arpine Karapetian, 24.
The trial continues.
Oct 15 2005
Man `confessed killing to me'
15 October 2005 07:00
A woman told a jury at Norwich Crown Court yesterday a relative
confessed to her he had killed a man whose body was found burnt in a
field.
Detectives spent almost a year trying to identify the body of
42-year-old Armenian Hovanhannes Amirian, whose body was found at
Upton, near Peterborough in December 2002.
Armenians Nishan Bakunts, 28, and his father-in-law Misha
Chatsjatrjan, 44, allegedly killed their countryman Amirian - also
known as Sako - over a 'family quarrel', then sought to destroy
evidence linking them to him.
Sako was said to have been shot and stabbed in the medical room at
the Cooper Roller Bearings factory at King's Lynn, where Bakunts was
a security officer. His body was then taken to the field and set on
fire.
Giving evidence yesterday, Bakunts's sister, Irina Aroustamian, who
is seeking asylum to live in Belgium, said when she spoke to
Chatsjatrjan - her brother's father-in-law - he had confessed to
putting eight bullets into Sako's head.
She said he made his confession as at the time he thought he had
liver cancer and had three months to live.
Speaking through an interpreter, Ms Aroustamian said Chatsjatrjan
told her Sako had gone on his knees and pleaded to him: "Don't kill
me, I have children".
She said after the killing her brother helped Chatsjatrjan clean up
the room.
Cross-examined by Nigel Lithman, QC, defending Chatsjatrjan, she
denied she had been telling a "pack of lies."
The jury also heard more details about the dead man Sako being wanted
for questioning about the murder of Pogosian Ernait, who was killed
on November 30, 2000 at Ostend, in Belgium.
Det Chief Inspector Kurt Devilder, of the Belgian police, told the
jury that he had helped with the identification of Sako by obtaining
DNA samples from the dead man's child.
He said Bakunts was originally linked to the murder of Mr Ernait but
further investigations eliminated him from the inquiry and it was
found that references to him had been made maliciously.
He agreed that Sako was now suspected of being the culprit.
Det Chief Insp Devilder also said that Sako was known for extorting
money from members of the Armenian community and was a
"self-confessed Mafia man" who was feared within the Armenian
community in Belgium.
Bakunts, of Lichfield Road, Yarmouth, and Chatsjatrjan, who was
living in Holland, have both denied murdering Sako, who was the
Godfather of Bakunts and his wife Arpine Karapetian, 24.
The trial continues.