Russian spy movie inspired realtor to carry out serial murders

Chennai

Stephen (41), who was nabbed  for executing three murders in a span of six months, took inspiration for his crime  after watching a Russian spy movie. He spent around six months, searching for articles that gave him insights into murders that could look like natural deaths and left no major traces during autopsy.

Stephen finally zeroed in on potassium cyanide, one of the most lethal poison. If Stephen had refrained  from going to the police to complain about a burglary at his residence, all the three murders he had committed, would have remained as  natural deaths.

Police had closed all these three deaths _  death of Stephen’s brother-in-law John Phelomena at Thousand Lights on April 19, 2015, death of Sridhar, husband of Stephen’s lover Selvi at Uthiramerur on May 17, 2015 and Henry, husband of Stephen’s new found passion and sister of Selvi, Amala on October 10, 2015 — as natural deaths following autopsy reports.

The Neelankarai police stumbled upon these ‘premeditated and shocking’ murders when they arrested three persons —  R Balaji (32), J Anandan (27) and Sathish Kumar (26) —  for looting jewellery and cash from Stephen’s house in Injambakkam recently. After their arrest, the trio told police about the three murders that they had committed based on the instruction and planning of Stephen. When the shocking revelation about the murders came to light,  Neelankarai Assistant Commissioner of Police, S Pandian met with  the forensic surgeons to discuss the case. “The pathological signs that the surgeons come across during autopsy in case of  potassium cyanide poisoning are similar to that of a cardiac arrest. So unless the police specifically suggest an angle of chemical poisoning, the surgeons would  not probe further and instead rule it as natural acute myocardial infraction,” said a police official.