Glendale News Press, CA
Aug. 26, 2006
Man found guilty of killing girl
Judge in Armenia takes 30 minutes to render his decision, sentencing
Glendale man to 10 years.
By Tania Chatila
GLENDALE – A judge in Armenia found 25-year-old Artur Khanzadyan of
Glendale guilty on Friday of murdering his girlfriend nearly a year
ago, then hiding her body in the trunk of his car, police said.
Judge Mushegh Harutunyan sentenced Khanzadyan – whose trial in
Vanadzor, Armenia lasted two days – was to 10 years in an Armenian
prison for the murder of 24-year-old Odet Tsaturyan with the act of
jealousy, Glendale Police Officer John Balian said.
"I’m glad justice was done, he was sentenced and he will serve time,
but I just think it would have been better if it was here…. He
probably deserved much more than that. It was a heinous crime,"
said Amanda Ryan Romo, a former teacher of Tsaturyan’s.
Tsaturyan, also of Glendale, left her family’s home at about 5 p.m.
on Sept. 6 for a party she never arrived at.
That same night, Khanzadyan, left his home at 6:30 p.m. and did
not return.
Police believe Tsaturyan got into an argument with Khanzadyan before
leaving her house that day, then agreed to meet him in Southwest
Glendale, where her abandoned car was found on Sept. 13.
She was likely strangled to death that night, but her body was found
three days later in the trunk of Khanzadyan’s 2005 Audi, which was
parked on a residential street in Azusa, Glendale Police Det. Craig
Tweedy said.
Khanzadyan fled to Armenia where he was arrested by Armenian
authorities in late November.
Three Glendale detectives – including Tweedy – traveled to Armenia
to try to get Khanzadyan to voluntarily return to the United States,
where he was charged with second-degree murder. But Khanzadyan – a
citizen of Armenia – would not return on his own will and Armenian
officials were not willing to denaturalize him to have him brought
back, Tweedy said.
The U.S. does not have an extradition treaty with Armenia.
Glendale Police enlisted the help of Rep. Adam Schiff in trying to
get Khanzadyan returned, but to no avail.
"I would have strongly preferred to have him brought back here
for trial, where he would have faced life in prison or even death,"
Schiff said. "But I am glad he was found guilty and will serve time in
Armenia. And I hope he serves the full sentence…. This is something
we’ll be watching."
Tweedy and Glendale Police Det. Tigran Topadzhikyan flew to Armenia
on Sunday night to help the prosecution in the trial.
The Glendale Police Officers Assn. and Glendale’s St. Peter Armenian
Church Youth Ministries’ Center raised $1,500 to also send Tsaturyan’s
father, Shagen Tsaturyan, to the trial.
"The father said that he was thankful for the detectives going out
there," Balian said. "It was in his hometown."
During the trial, Khanzadyan’s defense attorney, Karine Gasparyan,
argued that he accidentally killed Odet Tsaturyan by placing his hand
over her mouth, Tweedy said.
Gasparyan said Khanzadyan tried to resuscitate her, but was unable
to, Tweedy said. Gasparyan also argued that the injuries to Odet
Tsaturyan’s neck were from Khanzadyan’s efforts to administer CPR,
and not from him strangling her, Tweedy said.
She also argued that a head injury Khanzadyan suffered as a child
causes him to think irrationally, and that if Odet Tsaturyan was alive,
she would have never accused him of intentionally trying to harm her,
Tweedy said.
The judge took about 30 minutes before rendering a verdict and a
sentence on Friday, Tweedy said.
But before the verdict was read, Khanzadyan had a chance to speak
before the court, Tweedy said.
He apologized to those affected by incident, but denied intentionally
killing Odet Tsaturyan, Tweedy said.
"I hope in the future when we have people who commit murder in our
community flee to Armenia, we have more success in bringing the back
to face charges here," Schiff said.
Still, the sentencing offers some kind of closure, Romo said.
"[Odet Tsaturyan] was bright, intelligent, dedicated to school work,
dedicated to making something better of herself …. She was really
driven," Romo said.
"I saw somebody dedicated to her job, coming to school and making
something better of herself."