Photographer jailed for ten years for breaking the neck of model wife and torching her corpse

The naked and charred remains of 28 year old model Yulia Loshagina were found dumped in woodland close to the Urals city. Loshagin and his wife quarrelled at a 22 August 2013 party at their loft penthouse, two court hearings were told. 

He struck her legs, then pulled her hands behind her head, turning her with force, and breaking her neck, a judge  found. 

A day later he took her body to a forest where he doused her in petrol before setting fire to her remains near  Pervouralsk, some 50 km from Yekaterinburg.

He also deleted CCTV footage likely to have included incriminating evidence against him.

The first case led to Loshagin being found not guilty but this was reversed in December but this was reversed today when judge Alexandra Evladova convicted him to a ten year sentence in a penal colony for murdering his wife who he had frequently photographed for glamour magazines.  

Testimonies of a number of guests at the party - who supported Loshagin's claims of innocence - were rejected  by the judge because they were friends of him.

The judge said: 'The guilt of Dmitry Loshagin is proven. He was the last person to have seen his wife. I sentence him to ten years in a penal colony.'

His lawyer called the verdict 'political' and vowed to appeal. Loshagin had consistently denied any role in her death. An hour before she was killed, she was violently raped, according to medical evidence heard at his trials. However, Loshagin was not accused of rape.

Her face and hands was so badly disfigured that her body could only be identified by DNA evidence. 

The case attracted lurid attention with allegations leaked by investigators to newspapers, among them an extraordinary claim that he had killed her because she had infected him with AIDS. In fact, she was healthy when she died and Loshagin was not infected. 

Another claim was that she died during a bizarre sex session with Loshagin, but again there was no evidence presented in court other than the discovery of two dildos in the flat the couple shared.

Loshagin's lawyers complained these versions were evidence that he was  framed for a murder he did not commit, and pointed out that he was not accused of rape. 

Yet another claim was that Yulia was killed by a professional assassin hired by an alleged lover, an unnamed 'elderly' local official whose identity was hidden. Investigators discounted claims she had a secret boyfriend.

His mobile phone was found to have been used in the area close to where her corpse was dumped.  

Logashin insisted that he had told investigators his suspicions over who murdered his wife and hid her body. After the first trial, he had said: 'I endured my wife's death, horrific accusations, betrayal and humiliation. I have spent 15 and a half months in prison. I simply want to get back to my normal life.'

He said he had told investigators his suspicions of who killed his wife. 'But they didn't pay attention,' he said. 'As an investigator said to me: 'According to our statistics, as a rule, a husband kills. So, you'll be in jail'.'

He claimed that at the party he overheard his wife take a call from a mystery man who he assumed to be her lover, and agree to meet him at Moscovsky Trakt camping, near the forest where he body was later found. 

He decided not to make a scandal at the party but to speak to her afterwards. However, she left without talking to him, according to him.

He searched her suitcase and found some white powder which, he claims, he emptied into the toilet, leaving no traces. According to his version, his wife was carrying cocaine for a gang but 'something went wrong, and Yulia was killed', he said.

He said: 'After Julia did not return home on 23 August, I went a couple of times to this camping place at Moskvsky Trakt. I was looking for her. I showed her photos to the guards, and cafe staff. But my search brought no results.'

This is why his phone signal was located in the area. 

Loshagin's mother-in-law, Svetlana Ryabova, said she was always convinced of his guilt. She had demanded a re-trial after he was acquitted. 

'Of course, no one can bring me back my daughter, but I am satisfied, that's all,' she said.

28-year-old Yulia Prokopieva-Loshagina was found dead in August 2013. The mystery of her murder remains unsolved. Picture: Dmitry Loshagin