Woman Mutilates, Strangles, Burns Husband's Mistress To Make Sure She Is Dead

A Russian woman who strangled, knifed and burned her husband’s mistress in 2014 could face up to 20 years in jail if found guilty.

During her trial recently, Elena Romanova, 36, confessed to killing her husband’s 32-year-old mistress, Maria Sokolova, in a fit of rage. She said she forced Sokolova into her car holding a knife. “When I got in the car, I had a knife in my hands. But I can’t remember what happened.”

She later tied a scarf around Sokolova’s neck and tightened it before she drove for 30 minutes to a forest in a village outside St. Petersburg, Russia. She told the law enforcement that the victim was strangled for around half an hour inside the car. “When I took her out of the car, she still made a sound.” This prompted Romanova to set the woman on fire.

Elena claimed she was in a state of severe mental distress and didn't remember what she was doing. Court records showed when she was asked to demonstrate on a mannequin how she mutilated and killed the mistress, she said she was unaware of her actions.

Elena found out about her husband Evgeny Romanova's affair after Sokolova posted pictures of the gifts he gave her. Sokolova worked as Evgeny's subordinate at an airport cargo terminal. When Elena learned that Sokolova also received an identical bunch of 101 red roses on Valentine’s Day, she decided to confront her. She also later learned that her husband took his mistress on a romantic trip to Paris and several other locations when she believed he was abroad for work.

She killed the woman after Sokolova told her “I will take your family from you.”

Meanwhile, Evgeny had vanished since the death of his mistress. Solokova’s sister said he might be living with a different woman. She also said their affair lasted for more than five years. Evgeny didn’t attend Solokova’s funeral and neither did he visit his wife in detention.

Elena went to the police to make a confession the same day she killed the mistress but later retracted it, police told the court.

Romanova’s mother, who was her defense lawyer, said, “Initially I was convinced of my daughter’s guilt but now I believe she is innocent, and the police concocted evidence against her.”

The two women allegedly looked alike and after the murder came to light, the headline of a report appeared in the Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda said, “Wife killed twin-looking lover with whom her husband had a five-year affair.”

Romanova was charged with conspiracy with others to kidnap then murder and mutilate the woman.

The trial came five years after Solokova was killed and was preceded by a direct appeal from her mother to Russian President Vladimir Putin to speed up the case.

The jury was yet to give a decision on the case.