ULAN-UDE, January 10 (RIA Novosti) – An Uzbek man stands accused of killing a taxi driver in Russia's south Siberia to get out of paying a cab fare, local investigators said Friday.
The beheaded body of the 53-year-old taxi driver was discovered in the outskirts of Ulan-Ude, the capital of the republic of Buryatia, on Thursday. Police also found his Honda car in the center of the city later that day.
The suspect, an unemployed 20-year-old Uzbek national who was illegally staying in Russia, was detained as he tried to sell a mobile phone that belonged to the victim. Police also found the taxi driver’s documents on the suspect after searching him.
“At the end of the trip the foreigner, unwilling to pay his fare, took a knife out of his pocket and inflicted several blows to the taxi driver’s neck and chest,” investigators said, adding that the victim died at the scene.
The suspected killer later hid the taxi driver's body near trash cans and drove the car to the center, where he left it, investigators said.
