In the case of the murder in the small Tiergarten in Berlin, there is new knowledge about the path of the murder weapon. As the "time" reports, the pistol of the Glock brand was sold in 1986 from Austria to Estonia, in the sphere of influence of the then Soviet Union. Accordingly, the barrel of the weapon had been exchanged, possibly to cover tracks.
The investigators assumed that the alleged murderer, who had entered the Federal Republic under the name Vadim Sokolov, received the weapon on the way to Berlin in Warsaw from supporters. The Russian is strongly suspected of having executed the Georgian Zelimkhan Khangoshvili on 23rd August. He is currently in prison in Berlin.
Alleged perpetrator was visited in prison by Russian diplomats
In recent weeks, there has been growing evidence that the crime may have been a murder on behalf of Russian government agencies. Research by SPIEGEL, the investigative websites Bellingcat and The Insider and the London Dossier Center show that Vadim Sokolov's identity is fake. (Read more about the case here)
The alleged perpetrator was visited shortly after the crime by two Russian diplomats in prison. Because the conversation took place in Russian and without supervision, it is still unclear what the diplomats had to say to him.
Although the supervision is permitted under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, such a rapid and intensive response is considered unusual. As SPIEGEL learned from security circles, the two Russian diplomats are supposed to be consular employees without an intelligence background.
