 |
Dmitriy YakovlevUS convicted criminal, Russian immigrant
Country:
 USA |
Content:
Biography of Dmitry Yakovlev
Dmitry Yakovlev, a former Russian immigrant, is a convicted criminal in the United States. He was born in Russia in 1978 and immigrated to the US in 1996. Yakovlev, a trained surgeon, settled in Brooklyn and first came to the attention of the police in 2003 when a former New York police officer named Michael Klein went missing.
Early Crimes
In 2005, the police discovered the dismembered remains of Russian immigrant and jeweler Viktor Alekseyev. Alekseyev had been living next to Yakovlev, and his body parts were found packaged in bags in New Jersey. Investigators noted the professionalism with which the body was dismembered.
In the fall of 2007, Ukrainian-born Irina Malezhik, who worked as a Russian language translator in the US, disappeared. Although there was not enough evidence to link Yakovlev to these initial episodes, Klein's driver's license was found in Yakovlev's possession. Interestingly, Yakovlev began using Malezhik's credit card to make purchases without raising suspicion. Yakovlev's wife, Julia Yakovleva, also pretended to be a victim in phone conversations with banks regarding the credit card.
Arrest and Conviction
The Yakovlev couple was arrested in late summer 2009 on charges of financial fraud. Dmitry Yakovlev admitted to using the victims' money but denied any involvement in the actual murders or disappearances. He claimed that he was collecting debts from the victims in this way. It was later discovered that Yakovlev had been buying homes from bankrupt debtors since 2000, preparing them for sale, and then reselling them. Additionally, the former Russian citizen engaged in buying and reselling expensive watches at auctions.
However, Yakovlev was unable to pay any money to the victims' heirs as he had no funds in his bank account. The police believe that Yakovlev may have hidden a certain amount of money, but they were unable to locate it. As a result, Yakovlev was only convicted of conspiracy, financial fraud, and other lesser crimes. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison, as there was not enough evidence to declare him a serial killer. His wife, Julia, received a two-year prison sentence. The Yakovlev couple has two daughters.
On June 3, 2011, when the verdict was announced, Yakovlev was seen smiling as he left the courtroom. The judge delivered a lengthy speech before reading the verdict to the jury.
