A man is believed to be the first murder suspect to be tried from a hospital bed placed in the court. Sergei Zolotovsky, who is accused of stabbing his wife Svetlana Zolotovska, 40, and her mother Antonina Belska, 70, lay propped up on his bed at the Old Bailey, London, flanked by nurses.
Zoe Johnson, prosecuting, said that Latvian-born Mr Zolotovsky had been involved in acrimonious divorce proceedings. “The evidence suggests he was paranoid and convinced himself that his wife had been unfaithful,” Ms Johnson said. Mr Zolotovsky, 44, had written in a letter, found at his home in North London, that his wife was a sinner, jurors heard.
Witnesses allegedly saw Mr Zolotovsky stab Mrs Zolotovska in her abdomen in a park in East London. He is then said to have sat astride her and cut her throat before running to his former marital home where he stabbed Mrs Belska. He tried unsuccessfully to set fire to the house, where he was hiding in the loft. He then tried to end his life while in prison awaiting trial.
Mr Zolotovsky, who denies two charges of murder, is unlikely to rise from his bed to offer evidence, Ms Johnson said. The trial continues.