Criminal investigation

Decorated St. Petersburg professor and Legion of Honor recipient found in freezing-cold river with SEVERED female arms in backpack

A Napoleonic history professor with tenure at St. Petersburg’s top university is suspected of murdering his much younger ex-student-turned lover in a fit of jealous rage. He was found in a river with female arms in a backpack.

On a bone-chilling Saturday morning, rescuers were called to help a man in his 60s found in the freezing waters of the Moyka River that cuts though the historic center of St. Petersburg. Their next discovery was much more sinister – a backpack with two female arms severed at the elbows and a non-lethal handgun.

Police detained the man, who had to be taken to the hospital for hypothermia, and launched a murder investigation.

While law enforcement has not officially released the name of the suspect, numerous Russian media outlets have reported he was Oleg Sokolov, a 63-year-old historian teaching at the most prestigious university in St. Petersburg.

When investigators searched the man’s apartment, located not far from the river, they found the dismembered body of a young women and a bloodied hacksaw that was apparently used to cut off her arms and head, local news site 47news.ru reported. It claims the victim is a 24-year-old former student and protégé of Sokolov, who was apparently in a relationship with the man. The two collaborated on several works about the Napoleonic Wars and appeared in period costumes at re-enactment events.