A man has been detained in southern Ukraine after mistaking his ex-girlfriend`s brother for her lover and then allegedly stabbing him to death, regional media said on Wednesday, RIA Novosti reported.
The incident occurred in the city of Mykolaiv when the suspect, named only as Vladimir, paid a visit to his ex-girlfriend to try to resolve a recent row which had seen them split up after seven years together, the NTN TV channel said.
However, his former common-law wife was in no mood to listen to his pleas for forgiveness and Vladimir went to a local bar to drown his sorrows. After drinking for some time, he returned to her flat to try once more to patch things up. It was there that he met for the first time his girlfriend`s brother, who was unfortunately dressed only in his underpants. Gripped by a fit of jealousy, Vladimir immediately set about his "love rival."
"I don`t remember anything that happened," the suspect told journalists from his hospital bed.
Despite Vladimir`s amnesia, investigators have established that the two men both grabbed knives and that the suspect dealt his girlfriend`s brother a fatal injury. Vladimir also sustained serious but not life-threatening stab wounds during the duel.
The incident is reminiscent of a notorious similar case of mistaken identity that took place in Moscow some two years ago.
Then, 48-year-old Yury Klimchuk came home drunk and not recognizing the sleeping figure of his eight-year-old stepson Timur, decided that his wife was cheating on him. He seized a knife and began to stab the boy. Surgeons only managed to save Timur after an operation that lasted several hours. Klimchuk hanged himself shortly after the attack.
