Grigoriy Bukhantsov, a troubled teenager and high school dropout, lived with his parents in Rancho Cordova, California 15 miles east of Sacramento. The young man's parents were Ukrainian immigrants who came to the United States in the 1990s after the breakup of the Soviet Union. They settled in this community of 100,000 immigrants from Ukraine, Georgia and Belarus.
Grigoriy's parents, and the family of his older brother Denis Bukhantsov, belonged to the 6,000-member Bethany Slavic Missionary Church, an evangelical Pentecostal congregation founded by immigrants from the former Soviet Union.
In December 2011 Grigoriy Bukhantsov pleaded no contest to burglary. The judge sentenced him to one year in jail and five years probation. He served seven months of that sentence. Once out of prison Grigoriy, a drug and alcohol abuser with serious mental problems and a propensity for violence, threatened virtually everyone he knew. People had good reason to be afraid of him.
In the summer of 2012 Grigoriy Bukhantsov assaulted his father and sister and threatened to stab his entire family to death. Florin Ciuriuc, the executive director of the Slavic Community Center of Sacramento helped Mr. Bukhantsov obtain a temporary restraining order against the 19-year-old. (Grigoriy's parents struggled with English.) The Sacramento county judge issued the order, but when the family didn't seek to make it permanent the restraining order expired.
Grigoriy became so disturbed and threatening, his parents, fearing for their lives moved out of the state, taking their daughter with them.
According to Florin Ciuriuc, Grigoriy Bukhantsov "was going nuts. Saliva came out of his mouth when he screamed, yelled and cussed. He was talking nonsense. He was making threats to everybody."
After Grigoriy's parents fled California, Grigoriy became homeless, living temporarily in the houses of relatives until he wore out his welcome and was asked to leave. On Monday, October 22, 2012 he asked his 29-year-old brother Denis if he could spend a couple of nights at his house. Denis, his 23-year-old wife Alina and their three children, ages three, two and six-months lived in Rancho Cordova, California. Because his nomadic brother seemed calm and in control of himself Denis agreed to shelter him.
The next day, when Denis returned home at 3:30 in the afternoon following a class he took, he found that Alina and two of the children had been bludgeoned, stabbed and slashed to death. The 6-month-old boy had not been harmed. Denis ran to a neighbor's house and called 911.
The police immediately launched a search for Grigoriy Bukhantsov. After committing the murders the suspect had stolen the family's 2005 Chrysler minivan. The next day, at two in the morning, a police officer spotted the stolen vehicle parked in front of a Denny's restaurant. Inside they found Grigoriy asleep in a booth. Taken into custody he was booked into the Sacramento County Jail where he was held without bond.
Shortly after his arrest the local prosecutor announced that his office would seek the death penalty in the triple murder.
In August 2015, following months of procedural delays, motions and stays, a Sacramento jury found Bukhantsov mentally competent to stand trial. The defendant's attorneys, arguing that their client was criminally insane appealed this verdict. A judge, in February 2016, ruled that Bukhantsov was competent to be tried.
The Bukhantsov murder case remained in limbo. In California the criminal justice system was so overwhelmed it moved slowly, if at all. The Bukhantosov case delays were par for the course.
In March 2018, almost six years after the murders, Grigoriy Bukhantsov pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder. The judge sentenced him to life in prison.
Grigoriy's parents, and the family of his older brother Denis Bukhantsov, belonged to the 6,000-member Bethany Slavic Missionary Church, an evangelical Pentecostal congregation founded by immigrants from the former Soviet Union.
In December 2011 Grigoriy Bukhantsov pleaded no contest to burglary. The judge sentenced him to one year in jail and five years probation. He served seven months of that sentence. Once out of prison Grigoriy, a drug and alcohol abuser with serious mental problems and a propensity for violence, threatened virtually everyone he knew. People had good reason to be afraid of him.
In the summer of 2012 Grigoriy Bukhantsov assaulted his father and sister and threatened to stab his entire family to death. Florin Ciuriuc, the executive director of the Slavic Community Center of Sacramento helped Mr. Bukhantsov obtain a temporary restraining order against the 19-year-old. (Grigoriy's parents struggled with English.) The Sacramento county judge issued the order, but when the family didn't seek to make it permanent the restraining order expired.
Grigoriy became so disturbed and threatening, his parents, fearing for their lives moved out of the state, taking their daughter with them.
According to Florin Ciuriuc, Grigoriy Bukhantsov "was going nuts. Saliva came out of his mouth when he screamed, yelled and cussed. He was talking nonsense. He was making threats to everybody."
After Grigoriy's parents fled California, Grigoriy became homeless, living temporarily in the houses of relatives until he wore out his welcome and was asked to leave. On Monday, October 22, 2012 he asked his 29-year-old brother Denis if he could spend a couple of nights at his house. Denis, his 23-year-old wife Alina and their three children, ages three, two and six-months lived in Rancho Cordova, California. Because his nomadic brother seemed calm and in control of himself Denis agreed to shelter him.
The next day, when Denis returned home at 3:30 in the afternoon following a class he took, he found that Alina and two of the children had been bludgeoned, stabbed and slashed to death. The 6-month-old boy had not been harmed. Denis ran to a neighbor's house and called 911.
The police immediately launched a search for Grigoriy Bukhantsov. After committing the murders the suspect had stolen the family's 2005 Chrysler minivan. The next day, at two in the morning, a police officer spotted the stolen vehicle parked in front of a Denny's restaurant. Inside they found Grigoriy asleep in a booth. Taken into custody he was booked into the Sacramento County Jail where he was held without bond.
Shortly after his arrest the local prosecutor announced that his office would seek the death penalty in the triple murder.
In August 2015, following months of procedural delays, motions and stays, a Sacramento jury found Bukhantsov mentally competent to stand trial. The defendant's attorneys, arguing that their client was criminally insane appealed this verdict. A judge, in February 2016, ruled that Bukhantsov was competent to be tried.
The Bukhantsov murder case remained in limbo. In California the criminal justice system was so overwhelmed it moved slowly, if at all. The Bukhantosov case delays were par for the course.
In March 2018, almost six years after the murders, Grigoriy Bukhantsov pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder. The judge sentenced him to life in prison.
Bukhantsov pleaded guilty the other day. http://www.sacbee.com/news/article207045529.html
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