A 20-year-old footballer has been arrested on suspicion of stabbing a businesswoman to death in front of her teenage daughter.
The story began back in February when phone scammers pretending to be from government services called Daniil Sekach.
They allegedly told him a criminal case could be opened against him over illegal banking transactions carried out in his name and convinced him he had to assist the “investigation” and follow their instructions to prove his innocence.
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In March, they sent him to Moscow, Russia, to carry out an “operational assignment”.
After checking into a hotel on Friday (13 Mar), he received a transfer of over 40,000 RUB (£360) to buy a phone, a SIM card, an angle grinder, a crowbar, a sledgehammer, protective glasses, and gloves.
He was then given the address of a flat, where he arrived that evening, as well as a codeword to enter.
He entered the flat, where Yekaterina Chuchupalo’s 16-year-old daughter was home alone, as reported by Need To Know.
The girl, also influenced by the scammers, had been convinced to let Sekach in to conduct a search.
She took him to a room with a safe before leaving him alone. Sekach then received instructions via video call to open the safe with the angle grinder.
When Yekaterina, 48, returned and demanded an explanation, Sekach’s handlers instructed him to eliminate her while they watched over the phone.
He punched her repeatedly before grabbing a knife and stabbing her at least twice.
She fell to the floor and soon stopped showing signs of life, all in front of her terrified daughter.
Sekach eventually opened the safe and stole banknotes and coins worth 2-3m RUB (£17,898-£26,983) – the family’s savings – and was instructed to throw the haul out of the window onto the street.
He remained in the flat overnight before releasing the teenager and leaving.
Yekaterina’s husband was on a business trip, and her eldest daughter was out with friends when the horror unfolded.
Sekach was later arrested at the hotel, where he had been awaiting fresh instructions.
He has been charged with gang-ordered murder for profit and a violent gang robbery on a massive scale.
On Monday (16 Mar), the Tushinsky District Court ruled to keep him in custody.
Born in Kislovodsk, Sekach had been playing for Ural Yekaterinburg’s reserve team since January 2025, featuring in Russia’s fourth-tier Second League B.
He came through the youth academies of Lokomotiv, Rostov, Strogino, and Master-Saturn.
A psychological and psychiatric evaluation has been ordered.
At a court hearing, a representative of Moscow’s Main Investigative Directorate said: “His involvement in the crime is confirmed by witness testimony and by the suspect himself.”
Sekach’s lawyer called him a “good-natured person who made a mistake”.
He now faces life imprisonment.
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