Swanning around Costa del Sol, ‘Black Widow’ bride of British millionaire murdered in Ukraine
‘Failed to attend his funeral’
SOAKING up the sun on the Costa del Sol, the internet bride at the centre of an investigation into the murder of a wealthy British businessman enjoys a leisurely stroll with her latest rich lover.
Ganna Ziuzina, who has been dubbed the Black Widow, is seen laughing and joking in a bar near her £700,000 Marbella villa which she shares with London property developer Ivan Lister.
The pair, who met following the hit and run murder of Miss Ziuzina’s husband Barry Pring in Kiev, were pictured relaxing with friends.
It is the first time the former stripper has been seen in public since an inquest ruled in January that Mr Pring was unlawfully killed after being ‘tricked’ into waiting by a road then being run over.
She strenuously denies any involvement in his murder and is involved in a bitter dispute with Mr Pring’s family over what remains of his £1.5million estate.
In March Miss Ziuzina, now 38, succeeded in quashing the findings of the Exeter inquest after arguing the case had been mishandled.
She complained that she was not given an opportunity to testify, that a key witness was allowed to give ‘hearsay evidence’ and that ‘new evidence’ relating to her husband’s murder should be considered. A judge is now set to oversee a second inquest.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian police are continuing their inquiries into Mr Pring’s murder on the outskirts of Kiev in February 2008.
Under pressure from a Tory MP, there have also been renewed Bride: With Barry Pring in 2007 efforts by Foreign Office officials to reach agreement for a new joint investigation involving Ukrainian and British police.
Devon-born Mr Pring, 47, is said to have been besotted with Miss Ziuzina despite his friends’ fears that she was a ‘gold- digger’. The Exeter inquest heard that the ‘cold’ Ukrainian internet bride murdered him for his money.
Coroner Dr Elizabeth Earland was told Miss Ziuzina led Mr Pring to a dual carriageway after their first wedding anniversary dinner to hail a taxi. She then went back inside the restaurant to collect a pair of gloves. Moments later Mr Pring, from Battersea, south-west London, was killed by a speeding vehicle with no headlights on and stolen number plates.
The inquest heard that within days Miss Ziuzina flew to the UK and tried to move into his London flat and claim his assets.
Mr Pring’s family, who spent more than £100,000 trying to find out what happened, were furious when the unlawful killing finding was quashed.
They accused Miss Ziuzina, who has changed her name to Julianna Moore, of snubbing January’s inquest. She also failed to attend Mr Pring’s funeral.
Police have previously said they made ‘strenuous’ efforts to locate Miss Ziuzina before the inquest in a bid to make her give evidence.
In February it emerged she had been awarded £21,000 in legal aid in her battle to receive a major share of IT consultant Mr Pring’s estate, and that the Legal Aid Agency was considering court action to force her to pay the cash back.
She has bought two properties on the Costa del Sol, one a £700,000 villa she shares with Mr Lister, 48, with whom she had a daughter in 2013. Her parents have lived in the other.
Mr Pring’s death was initially treated by Ukrainian police as an accident then upgraded to a murder inquiry after the bungled investigation was exposed by the Mail in 2011. The Ukrainian investigation has been dogged by allegations of incompetence and a cover-up.
Soon after the Exeter inquest ruling was quashed Miss Ziuzina accused Mr Pring’s family of squandering his fortune.
They called the claim ‘preposterous’ and said the money had been held in an independent trust.
Yesterday Miss Ziuzina refused to comment at her Marbella home. Mr Pring’s brother Shaughan, 54, declined to speak about the case.