Crime stories
Georgian shepherd found guilty of murdering American couple and their 4-year-old son
The jury found Malkhaz Kobauri guilty of triple homicide and rape. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch--A 19-year-old shepherd from Georgia was found guilty on Monday of savagely killing an American couple and their 4 year old son in July, 2018. Apart of homicide of three people, Malkhaz Kobauri was also found guilty of other crimes, including [...]
19 y/o shepherd charged with murdering American family of three in Dusheti
The murder victims Lora (42), Caleb (4) and Ryan Smith (43). TBILISI, DFWatch–A 19 year old shepherd from Georgia’s mountain region Dusheti was charged Monday with the cold blooded murder of an American family of three. The shepherd, whose identity is being withheld by authorities, has confessed to the killing of Ryan Smith, 43, an entrepreneur, […]
Two women arrested, suspected of stabbing Georgian singer
Tamta Janjgava (left) and Natia Topuria. (Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Police in Georgia have arrested two young women implicated in the near fatal stabbing of a popular crooner. Irakli Nozadze, nicknamed ‘Picasso’, was in a critical condition after major loss of blood after being stabbed multiple times in the chest and neck on Monday. […]
Popular Georgian crooner ‘stabbed by two girls’ in Tbilisi
Irakli Nozadze. (Facebook.) TBILISI, DFWatch–One of Georgia’s most popular singers was stabbed in Tbilisi Monday evening. Two girls are suspected of carrying out the crime. Irakli “Picasso” Nozadze of the popular quartet Street Boys (“ქუჩის ბიჭები”) is in a critical condition after being stabbed in the chest. […]
Gang fight at Tbilisi school leaves two 16 year old boys dead
TBILISI, DFWatch–Crowds gathered outside a school in the center of Tbilisi Sunday evening to pay tribute to two teenage boys who were brutally murdered by their peers two days earlier. School students and teachers, as well as relatives of the victims, […]
Gunman wounds four ahead of Georgia’s local elections
People gathered outside the hospical in Marneuli, where the wounded Georgian Dream members were being treated. (1tv.ge.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A gunman opened fire at a local office of Georgia’s ruling party Thursday night, wounding four people, two days before nationwide local elections that will gage the government’s hold on power. The attack, which wounded a candidate for Georgian Dream, […]
Georgian priest sentenced to nine years in prison for murder attempt
TBILISI, DFWatch–A Tbilisi court on Tuesday sentenced a high ranking cleric to nine years in prison for trying to kill the patriarch’s personal secretary with poison. The case has sent shock waves through Georgian society and revealed divisions within one […]
State auditor shown holding pistol in bar in new online video
Lasha Tordia (far left) apparently brandishing a pistol at PAM Club last December. TBILISI, DFWatch–A new video of a public auditor pointing a pistol in a bar last December further undermined his claim that a recent fight with an ex-prosecutor was corruption related. The video surfaced on the Internet on Wednesday, and shows state auditor Lasha Tordia […]
MIA presents video, auditor maintains bar fight was corruption related
TBILISI, DFWatch–The Ministry of Internal Affairs released a surveillance video and witness testimony on Monday which appeared to undermine claims by the country’s top public auditor that a recent bar fight was connected to a corruption probe. But the low resolution […]
Georgian priest walks out on first day of his murder trial
TBILISI, DFWatch–A high profile trial of a Georgian priest accused of planning to murder the patriarch’s personal secretary got off to a dramatic start Friday as the defendant left the courtroom in protest and asked his lawyers to do the same. This was the first hearing […]
Georgian priest must remain in detention until beginning of murder trial
TBILISI, DFWatch–A Georgian priest accused of planning to poison an adviser to the patriarch is to remain in pre-trial detention. That was decided at a hearing in the Tbilisi City Court on Friday. The judge rejected all the around a dozen pleas by arch priest […]
Georgian priest on trial for planning to murder patriarch’s adviser
TBILISI, DFWatch–A priest is being put on trial in Georgia for planning to use poison to murder a close adviser to Patriarch Ilia II, the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church. As the case files were handed over to the court on Thursday, the Prosecutor General’s Office wrote in a statement that […]
Woman found strangled, ex-husband arrested as suspect
TBILISI, DFWatch–A mother of four was found strangled in Tbilisi on Tuesday. Police suspect her ex-husband who was arrested soon after. Miranda Vacheishvili (40) was apparently strangled with a lead wire. She was living in an uptown district of the capital, and had complained […]
Spanish police detain 48 in raids against Georgian robbery gangs
(National Police Corps of Spain.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Spanish police have arrested dozens of Georgian nationals suspected of home burglaries in an elaborate operation said to be targeting ‘the Georgian mafia’. The police released information on Thursday but operations were carried out earlier, […]
Georgian sentenced to 13 years for killing a transgender woman
Zizi Shekiladze. TBILISI, DFWatch–A Georgian man has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for stabbing and killing a transgender woman acquaintance in Tbilisi last year. Tbilisi City Court decided to sentence 31 year-old Giorgi Murjikneli to 10 years in jail for viciously attacking and cutting […]
Republican Party presents legislation to combat violence against women
TBILISI, DFWatch–In the former Soviet republic Georgia, the Republican Party has proposed legislation that will make femicide a separate crime – a gender-based hate crime which is causing alarm in the country. The Republicans, a party formed by Soviet dissenters in the 1970s, […]
18th and 19th Century books stolen from Georgia’s National Library
TBILISI, DFWatch–Police in Georgia arrested a man on Wednesday for stealing two historical books from the National Library the day before. The books the 64-year-old is accused of stealing date back to the 18th and 19th Century, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) wrote in a statement. […]
Woman shot and killed by ex-husband
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A woman died in Georgia’s eastern Kakheti region on Friday after being shot in the head by her ex-husband. The incident happened as the man visited the victim’s house, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) said on Saturday. During an argument […]
Georgian man sentenced to ten years in jail for murdering US tourist
The trial was held in Telavi district court. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The district court in Telavi, in Georgia’s eastern Kakheti region, on Thursday sentenced a man to 10 years in jail for murdering a US citizen last August. The court determined that on August 12, 2016, Mikheil Chincharashvili met the US tourist […]
Two arrested after dismembered body found in Tbilisi basement
TBILISI, DFWatch–Two persons have been arrested i Georgia accused of involvement in a macabre murder. One of the suspects is accused of killing the victim in an alcohol fuelled rage. The murder took place in late October, according to investigators. A neighbor complained […]
Man sentenced to 12 years for attack on opposition politician
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Tbilisi City Court on Tuesday sentenced a man to 12 years in jail for shooting an opposition politician last February. Alexi Petriashvili, then the party secretary of the Free Democrats, was approached by two men on a cemetery in the middle […]
Nanny caught on camera beating ten month old baby
TBILISI, DFWatch–A 60-year-old woman was arrested in Tbilisi on Tuesday, accused of beating a 10-month-old girl she was looking after. The accused has been working as a nanny for a family in Tbilisi for a month and half, according to a statement by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. […]
Prison inspector accused of asking for bribe to get prisoner released early
TBILISI, DFWatch–Georgia’s secret police on Friday arrested a prison inspector for attempted fraud. The suspect is working at prison no 16 in Rustavi south of Tbilisi and is accused of trying to help an acquaintance get a prisoner released earlier in return for USD 7,000 bribe. […]
Man suspected of stabbing transgender woman placed in pre-trial detention
(Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The 31-year-old suspected of viciously attacking a transgender woman in Tbilisi on October 14 was Wednesday placed in pre-trial detention. The accused Giorgi Murjikneli’s lawyer asked for his client to be released on 1,000 lari bail, but the judge […]
Suspect arrested for blowing up MP’s car days before election
The police confiscated explosives and weapons in the apartment of one of the suspects. (police.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch–A man was arrested Monday in Georgia, accused of involvement in the blowing up of MP Givi Targamadze’s car just days before the parliamentary election. The man, born in 1976, was arrested as part of the investigation into the explosion […]
Escaped burglar arrested in Tbilisi with jewelry from new heist
(police.ge) TBILISI, DFWatch–A Georgian robber who escaped from a court building in August by feigning illness was caught on Sunday with jewelry from a recent heist. Otar Varamashvili escaped from Rustavi City Court on August 31 by claiming he was ill and running away during […]
Policeman’s wife shot in the head, case investigated as suicide attempt
Kutaisi central hospital. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–A policeman’s wife is in hospital in Kutaisi, fighting for her life after being shot in the head with her husband’s gun Thursday evening. Authorities are investigating the case as a suicide attempt. Early media reports indicated that the policeman […]
A hundred illegal slot machines confiscated
(Ministry of Finance.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Financial crime investigators in Georgia have confiscated a hundred home-made slot machines that were placed in several cities around the country. The grey and blue columns do not look like typical slot machines, but offer customers […]
Fake Nokia and Samsung phones no longer on sale in this shop
(Palitra TV.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The financial crimes unit in Georgia’s Finance Ministry exposed a shop for selling fake Nokia and Samsung phones on Wednesday, which may lead to up to five years in jail. The Investigation Service revealed that phones were illegally labelled […]
Tbilisi car repair shop killer caught in Zestaponi
TBILISI, DFWatch–Police in Georgia Monday night arrested a 24-year-old suspected of murdering a car repairman a few hours earlier at in Tbilisi. The Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) informs that a man was arrested for premeditated murder and illegally purchasing, […]
Angry customer shoots electrician at Tbilisi car repair shop
TBILISI, DFWatch–An enraged customer pulled a gun on an electrician and shot him at a car repair place in central Tbilisi on Monday. The fatal disagreement took place on Kipshidze Street in the western Vake district. Police said the customer had a quarrel with an electrician […]
Rejected suitor raped woman he wanted to marry, gets 7 years’ jail
The man is appealing Zugdidi City Court’s sentence. (Interpressnews.) TBILISI, DFWatch–The City Court in Zugdidi last Friday sentenced a man to seven years in jail for raping a woman and attempting to force her into marriage. Defense lawyers say the man, who was arrested April 11, will appeal the verdict. According to the Prosecutor […]
21-year-old’s stabbing rampage in Kobuleti leaves one dead
TBILISI, DFWatch–A man died Thursday night after a street fight near Kobuleti, a town on Georgia’s Black Sea coast. Four others were taken to hospital with injuries, including a policeman. Police arrested a 21-year-old who is suspected of stabbing a 20-year-old man in the chest, […]
Murdered U.S. tourist was spotted arguing with suspect
The scene of the murder bore signs of a recent picnic when Imedi’s reporter visited. (Imedi.) TBILISI, DFWatch–Witnesses in the village where a U.S. citizen was stabbed to death Thursday night reported seeing the tourist in an argument with the suspected murderer two hours before his body was found. The motive for the murder is still unknown, but Imedi TV […]
U.S. tourist stabbed to death in eastern Georgia
TBILISI, DFWatch–An American man of around 40 was stabbed to death in a small village in eastern Georgia Thursday night. Police have arrested a 20 year old man who is suspected of the murder. The victim, a U.S. citizen, was found dead on a road in Lechuri, […]
Suspect arrested for murdering woman and burying body in wine tank
TBILISI, DFWatch–Police in eastern Georgia arrested a man on Friday who is suspected of bludgeoning an elderly woman to death and burying the body in a wine-making tank. The 28 year old man, who was arrested in Telavi in the Kakheti region, […]
Elderly woman found buried inside wine tank in her own garden
TBILISI, DFWatch–A woman was found dead Wednesday morning, buried in her own garden inside a traditional Georgian wine-brewing tank. The macabre discovery was made in the village Shakriani, in Georgia’s eastern Kakheti region. The elderly woman […]