The Investigative Committee completed the investigation into the murder of Igor Talkov

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MOSCOW, June 8. The Main Investigation Department for St. Petersburg has completed the investigation into the murder of singer Igor Talkov, reported in the Telegram channel of the Investigative Committee.
«The Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the city of St. Petersburg has completed the investigation of the criminal case against the concert director of Igor Talkov Valery Shlyafman. He accused of murder and attempted murder committed in a generally dangerous manner,” the release says.

How explained the Investigative Committee, the investigation established that in October 1991, during a conflict behind the scenes of the Yubileiny Sports Palace, Shlyafman tried to shoot Igor Malakhov, a representative of one of the artists, with a revolver, and mortally wounded Talkov.

After this, Shlyafman fled to Israel. In 1992, he was charged in absentia with negligent homicide. But in 2021, after the investigation was resumed, investigators came to the conclusion that Shlyafman was involved in committing intentional crimes.

Investigators did a great job: they questioned more than 150 witnesses, including pop artists, Sports Palace workers and police officers present at the scene, and ordered genetic studies. The specialists who carried out the examinations in 1991-1992 were also interrogated. Cutouts from Shlyafman's shirt with traces of blood were seized from one of them, which is essential for establishing the defendant's involvement in the murder.
The criminal case was sent for approval of the indictment and subsequent transfer to court, the Investigative Committee added.

Igor Talkov — Soviet musician, singer, songwriter, film actor. Born in 1956 near the city of Shchekino, Tula region, he began his creative activity in Tula. He became known to the general public after performing at the Song of the Year festival with the composition Chistye Prudy.
On October 6, 1991, a concert of famous domestic performers took place at the Yubileiny Sports Palace in St. Petersburg. Behind the scenes, a conflict broke out between representatives of Talkov and singer Aziza — Valery Shlyafman and Igor Malakhov. It all ended in a brawl in which Malakhov was beaten, and Shlyafman took the revolver from him and shot at him, but the bullet hit Talkov directly in the heart.