Man's charges upgraded to homicide after wife's body found in Philadelphia home, DA says
The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office has upgraded a man's charges to homicide after his wife was found wrapped in plastic and duct taped to a board in a closet inside a Northeast Philadelphia home on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for the DA's office said Vladimir Lushevskiy, who was in custody on charges of abuse of a corpse, is now facing charges of homicide, strangulation, tampering with evidence and obstruction.
Lushevskiy was captured in South Jersey and the effort is underway to extradite him back to Philadelphia to face a judge.
Lola Karabaeva, 61, was found on Wednesday in the closet of a home on the 9000 block of Diplomat Place in the Bustleton section of Philadelphia. The 61-year-old was reported missing by friends on Sunday.
According to police, Karabaeva's friends told officers they last spoke with her on Saturday, Oct. 12, at 2:30 a.m.
On Wednesday, police said detectives returned to the Diplomat Place home to continue investigating the missing person's case. As officers searched the house, police said they discovered Karabaeva's body wrapped in plastic inside a closet. She was pronounced dead by medics at 10:13 a.m., according to police.
Police said Karabaeva's cause of death has to be determined. Police believe she was dead for a few days.
"Lola, she was the most sweetest lady you could ever meet. Most sweetest lady," said Alexander Polevich, who lives in the Bustleton neighborhood. "I'm just, this whole neighborhood is shooken."
According to police, investigators are examining whether Lushevskiy may have killed Karabaeva in an argument about their son's disappearance and death while hiking in California over 20 years ago and whether the killing was committed on the son's birthday, Oct. 12.
The medical examiner's office described Karabaeva's death as homicidal violence.