Police identify suspects in alleged hate-crime killing

Police identify suspects in alleged hate-crime killing
One has fled, one is arrested
By Dorothy Korber and Crystal Carreon - Bee Staff Writers
Last Updated 7:15 pm PDT Tuesday, August 7, 2007

The prime suspect in the hate-crime killing of Satender Singh has fled to Russia, Sacramento sheriff's investigators said Tuesday, while another suspect in the case is in county jail on $25,000 bail. The first public identification of the two suspects marks a major step forward in the explosive case, said Sheriff John McGinness. The news came a month after the death of the 26-year-old Singh, a native of Fiji, who died of head trauma after being punched in an altercation on a Lake Natoma beach. Singh's friends and supporters say the July 1 assault was fueled by homophobia and hate, coming after a prolonged exchange of racial slurs and anti-gay jibes at the state park.

"It is important to make a statement that we as a society will not tolerate this kind of behavior," McGinniss said at a press conference Tuesday.

Homicide investigators say that Andrey Vusik, 29, of West Sacramento threw the lethal punch.
Vusik is still at large in Russia, where he is being sought on a charge of involuntary manslaughter and committing a hate crime, said Sgt. Connie Merkins of the sheriff's homicide bureau.

The other suspect in the case is Aleksandr Shevchenko, 21, of Sacramento, who surrendered voluntarily at his home Monday, according to Merkins. He is charged with intimidation and interfering with a victim's rights -- another hate crime. Shevchenko is scheduled to appear in court tomorrow.

Merkins said the sheriff's department is working with the FBI to find Vusik and extradite him from Russia.

"We actually talked to him by telephone on Sunday," she said. "He said this has scared the hell out of him - that his friends told him he was looking at 25 years in prison. He said he was willing to come back, but he said he didn't deserve 25 years."

Merkins said Vusik and Shevchenko were identified based on witness interviews -- along with a license plate number supplied by Singh's friends and a fingerprint found on evidence gathered by state park police.

Vusik is charged with involuntary manslaughter rather than murder because the evidence does not show any intent to kill Singh, the Sacramento District Attorney's Office said in a statement released Tuesday. If convicted, Vusik faces a maximum of eight years in prison, while Shevchenko faces a maximum of three years.

After Tuesday's press conference, community activists gathered at the sheriff's headquarters to express their gratitude and relief. "This is very significant - we're moving forward," said Georgette Imura, a leader in the Asian/Pacific Islander community and chair of the Satender Singh Justice Coalition. "I'm very excited that the suspects have been identified and that they have been charged with hate crimes."

Dennis Mangers, a local gay leader and chair of the Capital Unity Council, also applauded McGinniss for clearly labeling the incident as a hate crime. "We're deeply gratified that the sheriff has been so aggressive in pursuing this," Manger said. Sacramento's gay and lesbian community was particularly shocked at Singh's death, fearing that it represented an escalation in the rift between them and Slavic evangelical leaders who preach against homosexuality.

Sgt. Merkins said Tuesday that she could provide no information about the church affiliations of Vusik or Shevchenko. "I don't have complete background on the groups they are associated with," Merkins said. "We have an ongoing investigation and a guy outstanding - we don't want to give him too much of a head's up."

Singh died July 5, four days after he was punched at the park, fell backward and struck his head, rupturing a critical part of the brain stem. The events followed a daylong confrontation Singh and his friends had with another group, described by witnesses as "Russian-speaking." The Slavic group, according to witness accounts, had hurled homophobic slurs at Singh and racial remarks at him and his friends. Merkins said Tuesday that both sides had exchanged insults over the course of the day.

Summing up his department's efforts to identify the two suspects, McGinness called the incident a critical event for the Sacramento community. "We have committed significant time and effort to this cause," he said.