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International Manhunt For Russian Man Linked To Mother/Daughter Stabbing
By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 19, 2011
Modified Apr 19, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Apr 19, 2011
Modified Apr 19, 2011
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Larisa Prikhodko and mom Tatyana Prikhodko
Hours after the savage murder of young mom Larisa Prikhodko, 28, and her mother, Tatyana Prikhodko, in the mom's Sheepshead Bay apartment, Tatyana's live-in boyfriend was caught on surveillance video leaving the premises with two suitcases. Police say Nikolai Rakossi hightailed it to JFK Airport and flew to Moscow on a one-way ticket. The NYPD and the State Department are working with Russian officials to negotiate getting him back, but one law enforcement official tells the Daily News, "If he has money or influential ties there, he's gone. They won't send him back."
Rakossi, a 55-year-old Russian national who was living legally in the U.S. on a permanent visa, worked as a day laborer and has no previous criminal record. There is no record of violence between the couple, and another police source tells the News, "Everyone says the suspect is a nice guy. Really, everyone involved, nobody has a bad word to say about any of them." Larisa's devastated friend Yelena Raykin tells the Post, "He must have gone crazy. [Larisa] always said he was a nice guy... that he would always play with her son and the son would call him 'Grandfather.' "
Police found the bodies after Larisa's former fiance (and father of her 3-year-old son) reported her missing Sunday night, when she failed to pick up the boy or report to work in the maternity ward at Mount Sinai. After accessing her apartment through a fire escape and finding it empty, police went up three flights to her mother's home and forced the door open, finding a scene of horrific carnage.
One theory is that Larisa was murdered after happening upon her mother's killer. She was found near the entrance to the apartment, dressed in sweatpants and a T-shirt, dead from numerous stab wounds to her torso. A bloody knife was nearby, and there were signs of violent struggle throughout the apartment. In the rear bedroom, police found Tatyana fully clothed, with her throat slashed and stab wounds to her face and torso. Another bloody knife was found in the kitchen, the Post reports.
Russia has no formal extradition treaty with the United States, or Britain—in 2007, the British Prime Minister futilely pressured Russia to extradite Andrei Lugovoi to Britain to face trial for the murder of Alexander Litvinenko.
Tagged
brooklyn
Larisa Prikhodko
murder
Nikolai Rakossi
sheepshead bay
Tatyana Prikhodko
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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