In Karelia, jurors acquitted a grandson in the case of his grandmother's murder

Acquittal by jury verdict

In Karelia, a jury acquitted a man who was accused of murdering his own elderly grandmother. The decision was made on November 6, 2026, at the Supreme Court of the republic; this was reported by the joint press service of the courts of Karelia. The jurors examined the circumstances of the case and found insufficient evidence of the defendant's involvement in the violent death of the pensioner. Based on their verdict, the man was acquitted and released from custody right in the courtroom.

The prosecution's version

According to the investigation, the crime occurred on the night of July 5 to 6, 2025, at a dacha in the Pryazha district. The man was accused of murder by strangulation; the prosecution argued that the elderly woman was in a helpless state. Despite the evidence presented by the prosecution, the jurors did not find these circumstances proven. The publication Life.ru, which was the first to report the acquittal, does not provide additional details about the case or the parties' positions.

Context: the fate of acquittal verdicts

An acquittal by a jury does not always mean the end of the case. As Life.ru notes in connection with this decision, in another high-profile case the acquittal of three residents of Primorye, who were accused of murdering a married couple over a land dispute, was later overturned: upon retrial they were found guilty and sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 13 to 18 years and six months. Earlier, the same outlet also reported on a jury acquittal in the case of the shooting of entrepreneur Alexander Kablov in Osinniki, Kemerovo Region, where the panel likewise deemed the involvement of the two defendants unproven. The fate of the acquittal verdict in the Karelian case — for example, a possible review by a higher court — has not yet been covered in the publications.