BELGOROD, August 12 (RIA Novosti) – A prosecutor on Monday requested life imprisonment for a man accused of fatally shooting six people in the southwest Russian city of Belgorod.
Prosecutor Dmitry Lazarev, citing 60 witness accounts, said the April 22 killings were premeditated because the defendant had planned the shooting, including where to hide the rifle, and aimed at vital organs.
Defendant Sergei Pomazun, 31, pleaded for the court to sentence him to 25 years, not life. “The only thing I ask the court is to not sentence me to life,” he said.
Pomazun is accused of fatally shooting three people at a hunting store before going outside and killing three passersby, including two schoolgirls.
While the defense has insisted that Pomazun is insane, he has been deemed fit to stand trial.
Defense lawyer Viktor Yeremeyev said Pomazun did not realize the unlawfulness of the killings because he does not feel any remorse. “The defense has no other logical explanation of his actions,” Yeremeyev told the court.
When Pomazun was being detained, he told police he had been shooting “into hell.”
