Prosecutor asks life term for Moscow shooter Vinogradov

The public prosecutor asked Thursday to sentence to life in prison Dmitry Vinogradov, who shot down six colleagues at the office of a pharmaceutical company last November. The public prosecutor has summarized the evidence in the criminal case and cited Vinogradov’s confession as an argument for this sentence. The public prosecutor suggested that only life imprisonment can be a proper verdict due to the fact that the crime is so grave. The final verdict is expected to be pronounced by the Moscow City Court September 9. Vinogradov, 30, went on a shooting rampage in Moscow on November 7, 2012. Armed with a Vepr-12 and Benelli-M3 hunting rifles, he entered an office of the Rigla pharmaceutical company in Chermyansky Street and opened fire at his colleagues. Three men and two women were killed on the spot, and a young man died in an ambulance. One wounded woman survived because of timely medical assistance. Vinogradov was overpowered and detained by Rigla guards. The investigator said the crime was motivated by hate toward a number of unidentified person and the need for self-assertion. The suspect confessed to the murder during pre-trial investigation and apologized to the victims' relatives. Prior to the murder, Vinogradov placed a text on his page in the VKontakte social network, which linguists said contained calls for extremism. According to the results of the psychiatrist test at the Moscow Serbsky Institute for Social and Forensic Psychiatry conducted in February, Vinogradov was suffering from a mental disorder as of the moment of crime. "It limited his capability to understand his actions and their public danger, and control these actions, yet this fact does not exclude his sanity," Serbsky Institute experts said. Rigla personnel testified that Vinogradov was "a drabbie and office plankton" in the working collective. On the day of the crime, he turned up at the office in army fatigues, rucksack and many rounds of ammunition in pockets of his utility vest. Vinogradov told the guard at the entrance that he was going on a hike in the Carpathians. He went upstairs to his office and opened fire. The guards who overpowered him told the court he had resisted them trying to break free. After he was tied up, he began to shout 'kill me!' the guards said.