Dénia murderer 'has no memory of' slitting ex-partner's throat
Roman Ch., 54, told police he could not remember if he had also killed Helena's daughter, 11, who witnessed the early-hours attack in their home
AN EXPAT who slit his wife's throat with a butcher's knife in front of their young daughter claims he 'cannot remember' anything about the incident – and even asked police if he had killed the child.
As reported in Costa News last week, Roman Ch., 54, climbed into his ex's secondfloor flat in Dénia through the window via a ladder in the early hours of the morning and murdered her while she was in bed.
He then told Anastasia, 11, to ring the police, although neighbours had already done so as they were awoken by the child's screams for help.
The Russian national says he remembers 'walking in the rain' carrying the ladder, climbing up to the balcony, forcing a door and entering the communal hallway.
He recalls having a knife in his pocket, but says he has 'no memory' of the rest.
Police say they found him sitting in the kitchen 'covered in blood with the knife at his feet'.
During the hearing – after which he was remanded in custody and placed in Alicante's Fontcalent prison – Roman reportedly asked if he had also killed Anastasia.
He repeated his claim, made in previous hearings, that he was gay and had never been in a relationship with Helena.
The killer, who has lived in
Dénia for 20 years, says Helena and Anastasia stayed in his flat for a while after they moved from their native Russia two years ago, but that they had 'never formed a family unit'.
Yet Helena, 44, and her daughter reported feeling 'terrified' and persecuted by her 'expartner'.
They say he followed them in his car, once tried to run them over, and beat them up on two occasions over New Year 2018.
An injunction preventing him from going within 300 metres of Helena and Anastasia for two years was passed in January 2018, but reduced to merely a 'temporary precaution' as the verdict, passed by Benidorm court, was still open to appeal.
He was also banned from keeping firearms for four years and ordered to carry out 112 days' community service.
Roman's defence had cited drunkenness as a mitigating factor.
Dénia's specialist gender violence court archived the case in March, claiming there was 'insufficient circumstantial evidence of criminal activity'.
In February 2019, Roman was placed under investigation for two counts of breaking the injunction, one of which involved his contacting Helena's adult son in Russia and proffering threats against his mother and Anastasia.
Helena had been considered a 'low-risk' gender violence victim, later increased to 'medium-risk', which meant she was entitled to use the 24hour women's help centre and had 'periodic' police checks to ensure she was 'safe'.
MP for the province of Alicante, Araceli Poblador, said last week her dedicated gender violence team would be meeting shortly to ascertain whether 'the system had failed Helena'.