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Criminal Records - Most Wanted |
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Profile |
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Name: Anatoliy
"Tolik"
Valenko
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Sex: Male |
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Race: White |
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Age Now: 36 |
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Height: 5'8" |
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Weight: 150 lbs. |
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Hair (Color, Description, Facial Hair): Blond |
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Eyes (Color and Correction): Blue |
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Wanted for :
Murder (2 counts) ;
Nov 12, 1995
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Location(s) |
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Last Seen : Brooklyn, NY |
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Possible Location : Ukraine
New York |
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Last Known : Unkown |
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Traits |
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From Kieve, Ukraine |
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Has a wife in Russia |
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Speaks little English |
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Places personal ads in Russian newspapers to meet women (did this in NY and California) |
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Has worked as a carpenter in construction jobs, at a gas station and as a cashier |
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Does not have a passport |
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Case Story |
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A Two-State Murder Mystery |
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On the night of November 12, 1995, four lives came together in the Brighton Beach community of Brooklyn, New York. When morning came, two had been brutally ended.
But those murders wouldn't be discovered for days, not until a dog named Lilly made a gruesome discovery: a female human leg floating in the water at Plum Beach. Twenty-four hours later, the severed head of a man washed ashore. NYPD knew they were dealing with at least two homicides -- but where were the rest of their victims' remains?
It didn't take long to find out. Two torsos were soon discovered, each stuffed inside a suitcase, dumped in a woods in New Jersey. And the cops were in luck. A witness had seen the man who had left the suitcases, and helped NJ police with a sketch.
Once it was determined that the body parts found in New York belonged to the torsos found in New Jersey, the case fell into New Jersey's jurisdiction. |
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The Cigar Squad |
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Mike Prokopiw, a Russian-speaking detective with the Essex County Police Department, and Jim Gold, an investigator with the Essex County D.A.'s office, were paired up and given the tough task of solving this mystery.
Because both cops smoke cigars they became known among their peers as "The Cigar Squad."
Working off a theory that the victims were of Slavic descent, Prokopiw and Gold headed to New Jersey's Russian community -- and hit paydirt. A landlord at an apartment complex identified the male victim as his former tenant, Fakhat Askarov, from the Ukraine.
Digging into Fakhat's past, the detectives learned of his new address in Brooklyn, New York. They also learned he had a beautiful Latvian girlfriend, Larisa Jakovleva. Could she be their female murder victim?
The investigation led The Cigar Squad back over the bridge into Brooklyn. No one was home at Fakhat's apartment, but his landlord provided detectives with the names of Fakhat's roommates, Anatoliy Valenko and Vladimir Balachov, both were Russian immigrants who had disappeared.
The landlord remembered that the last time he saw Valenko was also the night Fakhat and Larisa were last seen. Valenko had knocked on the landlord's door looking for his key. He was upset and agitated and had fresh scratches on his face and abrasions on his hands.
The case quickly started coming together. The investigators verified Valenko and Balachov had purchased a circular saw at a local hardware store with Fakhat's credit card. And the witness in NJ identified Balachov as the man who dumped the suitcases in the woods. Luminal testing uncovered traces of blood in the apartment. Detectives were now able to positively identified Larisa Jakovleva as the female victim.
Prokopiw and Gold knew Valenko and Balacho committed the murders, but they were missing a big piece of the puzzle. Why? |
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The Puzzle Pieces Fall Into Place |
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An old phone bill left in Fakhat's mailbox would provide the cops the answers they needed.
It lead them to a Russian friend of Larisa's, who was often at Fakhat's apartment, and who hung out with Valenko and Balachov.
She gave the detectives a photo, showing her perched on Larisa's suitcase. It was the same suitcase Fakhat's body was found in.
She also told police how Valenko and Balachov were jealous of Fakhat and asked her where Fakhat kept his money. She had warned Fakhat to be careful.
Police theorize that Fakhat and Larisa caught Valenko and Balachov trying to break into his locked bedroom closet, in order to rob him. They believe it sparked an argument that escalated to murder and dismemberment of Fakhat and Larisa. |
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