Tuesday, August 14, 2012 -
Kazakh police said Tuesday they discovered the stabbed and burned remains of 11 men and women found dozens of miles apart in a vast national park in the south of Kazakhstan.
Deputy Chairman of the Criminal Police Orazaliyev Arman told journalists that robbery did not appear to be a motive in the killings, the state-run Kazinform news agency reported.
He said authorities were following a number of leads but have made no arrests so far.
Police on Monday first discovered four victims who had been stabbed to death at the home of Panayot Zaharopulo, a senior ranger of the Ile-Alatau national park in southern Almaty province.
The son of the dead warden is missing and is considered a suspect in the murders. His Nissan Patrol vehicle was found a short distance from the house spattered with what appeared to be spots of blood.
Another body was found in a nearby ravine of the vast forested and mountainous area.
Hours later police found the charred remains of several more victims at the property of another park warden, around 15 miles away.
Some of the dead are family members of the dead wardens. One of the victims has been identified as a European.
Kazinform cited friends of Zaharopulo as describing him as uncompromising against poachers.