Dmitriy Yakovlev, the Russian immigrant who, along with his wife, was charged with stealing the identities of at least two missing people, was found guilty by a jury yesterday after seven hours of deliberation. His wife Julia Yakovlev pleaded guilty to her part in the identity thefts last month. Though prosecutors made clear their belief that Yakovlev, who was a surgeon before emigrating, killed the people whose identities he stole, he was not charged with any murders due to a lack of evidence.
Still, when Yakovlev is sentenced on June 3, the conspiracy, bank fraud, using stolen credit cards and other charges he was found guilty of hold the possibility of a life term.
Prosecutors believe that Yakovlev dismembered his victims—thought to include New York jewelry importer Viktor Alekseyev, a Ukranian translator named Irina Malezhik and Michael Klein, a retired NYPD employee—and disposed of them before assuming their identities for financial gain. You'll recall that parts of Alekseyev's disarticulated body were found in the Jersey woods in 2006, with a vampire mask nearby. Klein's abandoned car was found in New Jersey, not far from where Yakovlev once lived. And the only remaining trace of Malezhik was a pair of her underwear found in the basement of Yakovelev's home.
"Immediately following the disappearances of each of the victims, Dmitriy Yakovlev was using their identities to go shopping for himself," Assistant U.S. Attorney James Gatta told the jury.
