Epress.am News from Armenia
Volodya Muradyan, the husband of 35-year-old Diana Nahapetyan, accused of fatally stabbing his wife 21 times, in court today filed a motion to amend the charges. Muradyan is charged with RA Criminal Code Article 104 Section 1 Paragraph 5: "murder with particular cruelty". If convicted, he faces 12–20 years or life in prison. He petitioned for a milder sentence — 6–12 years' imprisonment. The Court of First Instance of Ararat and Vayots Dzor Districts, however, refused the motion.
Recall, the charge against Muradyan was changed once already — to a graver charge.
Trying to prove that he is worthy of a lighter sentence, the defendant in court today said that his wife was cheating on him and disgracing him. As told to Epress.am by Women's Resource Center of Armenia Executive Director Lara Aharonian, who was present in court, the prosecutor responded to this statement by saying, "If your wife was cheating on you, you [should’ve] divorced her, not killed her." The accused countered that his wife's lovers were police officers, assistants to former Prosecutor General of Armenia Aghvan Hovsepyan, who would kill him if he divorced his wife.
Thus, today's court hearing ended, with the next session scheduled for July 31.
Recall, during the course of the investigation, the court found that Muradyan was not under "cumulative effect," that is, an unstable mental state resulting from a series of incidents, and though he was in a "highly emotional state," his consciousness was not completely clouded over when he committed the crime. That is, he was sane and of sound mind when the crime was committed.