Six people were shot to death in two locations in south Florida earlier this week by a suspect who was also found dead.
Russell Kot, 51, apparently shot Larisa Blyudaya, 46, and Ben Azivov, 18, to death inside a home in an upscale Fort Lauderdale neighborhood and then drove 200 miles northwest to the other side of the Florida peninsula, where he murdered four other people, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said.
The sheriff’s office said Kot was also found dead but didn’t say where. He died from “self-inflicted wounds,” deputies said. Detectives did find Kot’s vehicle in the Sarasota County neighborhood.
The sheriff’s office said it was called to a home in the Amberlea neighborhood early Tuesday afternoon by neighbors who said a man had been shot in the front yard. The neighbors, who were found performing CPR on the victim, said the man’s wife was likely inside the home. The man was ultimately pronounced dead, and deputies entered the home to find three more people dead, although their press release said they found four additional victims.
While they were investigating the murders, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department informed them they were investigating a double murder that may be connected to the Sarasota County murders. Officers there said they had a suspect vehicle and that it was seen traveling through Punta Gorda south of Sarasota County after the Fort Lauderdale murders.
Investigators have identified the victims but did not provide information about their connections with one another other than to say Kot had a “romantic relationship” with one of the Fort Lauderdale victims. That victim appears to be 46-year-old Blyudaya, who was found dead there along with her 18-year-old son, Azivov, according to social media posts and a GoFundMe set up to help the family of five of the victims.
The Sarasota victims were Olga Greinert, 49; Florita Stolyar, 67; Anatoly Ioffe, 61; and Yaroslav “Stan” Blyudoy, 39, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said.
The GoFundMe indicated that all but Greinert were members of the same family. Stan Blyudoy was Larisa Blyudaya’s brother; Stolyar was their mother; and Ioffe was their stepfather. Larisa Blyudaya also had a daughter who was not involved.
It’s not clear how Greinert was connected with the family, except she had a connection with Stolyar on Facebook. Most of the victims identified themselves on social media as having connections with Ukraine. The killer identified himself as from Serbia.
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[Featured image: Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. Inset: Ioffe, Blyudoy, Blyudaya, Azivov, and Stolyar/GoFundMe]