High-profile murder of town mayor solved

By Alexander Pracht

Armenian police announced on Sunday that it has solved the high-profile murder of Valodya Grigoryan, the mayor of Parakar, a suburb of Yerevan, who was gunned down last week. 

Grigoryan was shot dead alongside a friend, an off-duty police officer, outside his home in the village of Merdzavan on Tuesday. Another man who was with them was wounded and hospitalized but survived.

Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the crime, the alleged gunman and his accomplice. Police said the detained shooter confessed and led investigators to the automatic weapon used in the killings, as well as to the clothes he wore during the attack, which he later tried to burn. He has been charged with double murder, attempted murder, and illegal possession of a firearm. His name has not been disclosed.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan condemned the killings, hinting in his statement that he was dissatisfied with the failure to prevent the continuing violence in Parakar despite his earlier instructions. Following the attack, he dismissed the regional police chief of Armavir province.

Police have established a connection between the mayor's murder and a February homicide in the same village, in which the suspect's brother was killed. In that case, several people were arrested, including Grigoryan’s brother Paykar, who was released under house arrest on bail of roughly $28,000.