Armenian Cadet Did Not Write Suicide Note Found at Death Scene, Experts Claim

Yerevan Vazgen Sargsyan Military Institute cadet Haykaz Barseghyan, who was found dead at the sports ground of the institute in January, 2015, did not write the suicide note that investigators found at the scene of his death. “No one is to blame; I just got fed up. Sorry for the fuss,” read the letter that forensic psychologists and graphologists believe to be fake.

At a court hearing Thursday, March 17, forensic expert Mariam Mehrabyan stated that the presence of the word “fuss” in the note is “particularly problematic” since a person intending to commit suicide “only thinks about how difficult it is to live and does not care about what will happen in the future.”

“This is a very significant word. A person with an intent to commit suicide would not underline a word such as 'fuss.' They don't care about the future at that point, they only care about their escape. People who are on the verge of suicide have limited imagination; planning for the future and apologizing [for potential fuss] is not part of it,” expert Mehrabyan stressed.

Ara Zakaryan, a lawyer for one of the four accused, Gnel Tevosyan, questioned the assessment methodology, claiming that experts had used one of a Russian model, whereas “it should have been brought into line with the Armenian language.” 

Despite Mehrabyan insisting that the assessment had a reliability of 99% , the defense motioned for a follow-up examination on the basis that “experts have exceeded their powers.”

Recall, cadet Haykaz Barseghyan's body was found on January 29, 2015, hanging from a chin-up bar in the sports ground of the Vazgen Sargsyan Institute. Four cadets of the same military institute, Vache Sahakyan, Movses Azaryan, Gnel Tevosyan, and Norik Sahakyan, have been arrested and charged with murder.