MOSCOW, December 23 (RIA Novosti) – A man dressed up as Russia’s version of Santa Claus was found dead after a business holiday party in the city of Yakutsk, regional investigators and Russian social networks said Monday.
After most guests had gone home from the party, put on by a group of business entrepreneurs, the man got in a fight with two remaining partygoers and began threatening them with a knife, investigators said in a statement.
The guests subdued him and tied his hands and feet with rope, investigators said, and his girlfriend tied a scarf over his mouth to stop him from shouting.
The girlfriend escorted the guests out of the house and returned to find the man dead, according to the statement.
Investigators said they are working to establish the man’s cause of death.
Accounts of the incident published online claimed the man’s mouth had been taped shut and he had died from choking on his own vomit after he was left alone in the room.
Investigators, however, have not verified this account of the events.
Online reports also claimed the man was dressed up as Ded Moroz, the Slavic version of Father Christmas, though this was also not noted in the investigative report.
