‘FAMILY DISPUTE ENDED IN DEATH’
Nicki Walker
Norfolk Eastern Daily Press, UK
Oct 11 2005
Two men killed an associate by stabbing and shooting him at a Norfolk
factory before dumping his body in an isolated field, dousing it in
petrol and setting it alight, Norwich Crown Court heard yesterday.
Armenians Nishan Bakunts, 28, and his father-in-law Misha Chatsjatrjan,
44, allegedly killed their countryman Hovahannes Amiran over a ‘family
quarrel’, then sought to destroy evidence linking them to the crime.
But after an exhaustive two-year police investigation to establish
the dead man’s identity and track down his killers, the two defendants
were caught following a breakthrough lead – stemming from a scrap of
memo which was found near the burning body at Upton, near Peterborough,
in December 2002.
Bakunts, of Litchfield Road, Yarmouth, and Chatsjatrjan, who was
living in Holland, appeared at Norwich Crown Court yesterday charged
with the murder of 42-year-old Mr Amiran, alias Sako, who was the
godfather of Bakunts and his wife Arpine Karapetian, 24. Both men
have pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutor David Farrell QC, told the jury that police believed Sako
was murdered some time around Saturday, December 21, 2002 and the
two defendants then took his body by car to the field at Upton and
set it alight.
The body was discovered at 10am on the Saturday by an off duty fireman
Jake Ellard, who was cycling in the area.
Giving evidence, Mr Ellard told the court that he recognised the smell
of burning flesh and, after going to investigate, he saw that it was
in fact a body on fire and contacted the police.
A post mortem revealed the man had been shot in the face and neck by
home made bullets and stabbed in the trunk of his body. The man’s arms
had been cut and had wounds, indicating he had tried to defend himself.
At the murder scene police found a number of items, which had also
been set on fire.
Among these was a scrap of a medical memo with the names Talbot and
Armstrong on it.
A specialist who examined the body advised police that the dead man
could have been staying in the eastern region prior to his death.
This prompted detectives to send out more than 2000 letters to all
the people with the surnames of Talbot and Armstrong, in the hope it
would give them the breakthrough to identify the dead man and find
his killers.
And in September 2003 police got the vital lead they needed.
Vanessa Armstrong, a secretary at the Cooper Roller Bearings at King’s
Lynn, recognised the memo and contacted the police, the court heard.
Mr Farrell said it emerged memo had been sent out to a Paul Talbot
on December 18, three days before the body was discovered at Upton.
Mr Talbot was contacted and confirmed he had been in the medical room
and had dropped the memo in the bin as he left.
Police and scenes of crime officer visited the medical room and found
some surgical gloves – identical to a pair found at the site where
the body was dumped.
A thorough forensic investigation was then launched and blood matching
the victim was discovered in the medical room. Police had found their
murder scene, but at that stage had still not identified the dead man.
The court was told the investigation was then concentrated on the
Lynn factory and it was discovered Bakunts was working as a security
guard on the weekend of the murder.
A series of investigations showed Bakunts had known the dead man, and
had purchased guns and weapons prior to the murder. On the morning
of the murder, he had bought petrol and a can from a nearby garage
in Lynn.
Bakunts was arrested in October 2003, but was not psychologically
fit for interview until later in 2004.
During police interviews he replied “no comment”, but was later
charged with the murder of the dead man who was subsequently to be
identified as Sako.
Mr Farrell told the court there were a number of factors which linked
Bakunts and his father-in-law to the murder.
This included the identity and relationship between the accused and
the dead man, financial inquiries and purchases made by Bakunts,
forensic evidence, the foreign travel of Chatsjartrjan, and the sale
of Bakunts car, which the prosecution alleges, was used to transport
the body the 40-mile journey from Lynn to Upton.
Mr Farrell told the court it would be proved that on the day before
the murder, Chatsjatrjan travelled to Yarmouth after taking a ferry
to Britain from Holland and booked into a guest house then left the
country on December 22.
There was also forensic evidence found on a lighter to link him to
the murder scene.
Mr Farrell also told the court that a relative had contacted
Chatsjatrjan after hearing of Sako’s death.
He said Chatsjatrjan: “Confessed to her he had killed Sako at Bakunts’s
place of work.”
Mr Farrell added: “He confessed because he believed he only had three
months to live, because he believed he had cancer. He said the reason
was a family quarrel.”
Following the police investigation Chatsjatrjan was extradited in
January this year and charged with the murder of Sako.
Bakunts wife Karapetian, also of Litchfield Road, Yarmouth, was
arrested and charged with perverting the course of justice in
connection with the case.
The court heard although the couple were married in Belgium, their
marriage ceremony was infact invalid.
The trial, which is expected to last two weeks, continues.
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