In Spain, a Russian natural gas oligarch and his family were found dead Tuesday — just one day after a similar fate befell a Moscow-based oligarch and his family.
According to Newsweek, Spanish authorities are investigating the death of Sergey Protosenya, 55, and his wife and adult daughter to determine if their deaths were part of a gruesome murder-suicide or an organized hit.
The bodies were found inside the family mansion in the seaside resort of Lloret de Mar, located in Spain’s Catalonia region, after their son who is living in France was unable to reach the family.
According to the report, Protosenya was found hanged while his daughter and wife appear to have been stabbed and hacked to death with an ax while they slept.
Protosenya made millions as the former vice president and chief accountant of Novatek, a major Russian gas company.
Police insiders say investigators initial guess in the deaths was martial disputes. Spanish language news website El Punt Avui reported that local authorities had noticed inconsistencies in the murder-suicide theory.
There was reportedly a lack of blood on Protosenya’s clothing. Blood-stained socks were found at the scene and are believed to have been used as makeshift gloves. A bloody ax and knife were found next to his hanged body. No suicide note was found.
The Catalan police force confirmed they are investigating three deaths on Tuesday but did not name the victims.
Newsweek reported:
The incident comes amid similar reports from Moscow, of another executive linked to a gas company who also allegedly killed his wife and daughter before committing suicide. Former Kremlin official and Gazprombank vice-president Vladislav Avayev, 51, was found dead in his luxury Moscow apartment by his 26-year-old daughter on Monday, police said. The bodies of his wife Yelena, 47, and younger daughter Maria, 13, were also discovered. All had suffered gunshot wounds.
Neither of the men were included in the list of sanctioned Russian oligarchs targeted by Western governments after Vladimir Putin’s bloody invasion of Ukraine.
The Horn editorial team