A Russian Instagram influencer who was found dead last week was murdered by her ex-boyfriend, who has confessed to the crime.
Ekaterina Karaglanova’s body was found stuffed in a suitcase in her own apartment in Moscow on July 26, just days before her July 30 birthday. She was 24.
Karaglanova’s former boyfriend, Maxim Gareyev, admitted to stabbing her “at least five times,” Fox News reports. Gareyev told the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Russia's top law enforcement agency, that he proceeded to strip her naked and placed her body into the suitcase.
“She repeatedly insulted me, humiliated my sexual dignity,” Gareyev said in his confession video, which has been posted on YouTube. “Minimized financial opportunities. And I could not stand it. I stabbed her at least five times with a knife in [her] neck and chest.”
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Gareyev added that he regretted his actions and plans to cooperate in the case. In a court appearance on Thursday, Gareyev said he was “ashamed of myself” and apologized to Karaglanova’s parents. He is to be evaluated by a mental health expert, according to his lawyer.
Earlier in the investigation, officials said that Gareyev was caught on surveillance camera entering Karaglanova’s apartment on July 22, the day the incident allegedly occurred, and leaving after several hours.
Karaglanova was found by her landlord four days later. Her parents had reached out, concerned after not hearing from her for a few days.
Karaglanova, who had more than 100,000 followers on Instagram under the handle @katti_loves_life, was the runner-up for Miss Moscow and recently graduated from medical school. She also ran a personal travel blog.
Her last post on Instagram was on the day of her death, E! News reports. Karaglanova was pictured poolside with a glass of wine on vacation in Greece. “I travel often, but in every country I spend no more than three to five days,” she wrote. “The longest journey of my life was in Israel with my family, when I was 14. We went to visit for a whole month, covered the whole country. Now I prefer to travel very often, but briefly...The impressions of such short trips remain the brightest.”