MURDER ROOM

Lynn News, UK
Oct 11 2005

A man whose burning body sparked a country-wide murder hunt had been
killed in the medical room of a Lynn factory, a court has heard.

Hovhannes Amirian had been shot four times and stabbed several times
and traces of his blood were found in the medical room at Cooper
Roller Bearings factory in Wisbech Road, South Lynn, it was alleged
at Norwich Crown Court yesterday.

The killing was linked to Lynn through a semi-burnt piece of paper
found near the body.

It turned out to be a health check appointment addressed to a factory
employee which had been disposed of in the medical room at Coopers.

A forensic examination of the room uncovered blood splatterings
belonging to Mr Amirian, said David Farrell QC, prosecuting.

A former security officer at the factory, 27-year-old Nisham Bakunts,
and his father-in-law, Misha Chatsjatrjan (43) are on trial for
murdering Mr Amirian between December 19 and 20, 2002, at Lynn.

Mr Farrell said Mr Amirian’s body was found burning in a field in
Upton near Peterborough, on Saturday, December 21, 2002, by off-duty
firefighter Jake Ellard.

“It was the body of an Armenian man known as Sako, who had been shot
four times, once in the head, once in the neck and twice in the face,
and who had also been stabbed in his body several times and then
transported to an isolated field, doused in petrol and set alight,”
said Mr Farrell.

Pieces of paper found at the fire referred to a medical appointment
and contained the names Talbot and Armstrong.

A total of 2,099 letters were sent out between August and September
2003 to people with those surnames, and on September 5 a significant
lead developed in a phone call to police from a Vanessa Armstrong,
who was secretary at Coopers.

It was Ms Armstrong’s job to arrange health tests for staff and the
letter had belonged to a Paul Talbot, who had been in the room three
days before the body was found.

Police and scenes of crimes officers searched the medical room on
September 22 and October 1, when it was discovered the layout of the
room had been changed since the body was found.

A cupboard had been placed against a wall on which Mr Amirian’s blood
was found, as well as on the couch. Disposable gloves were also found
which were from the same batch as those found near the body.

Mr Farrell said: “This proved the deceased man was killed in that
room. A lot of the area in which he had been killed was hidden by
the cabinet which had been moved.”

Mr Farrell said the victim was an Armenian national living in Belgium
who had been staying with Mr Bakunts in Yarmouth with his partner,
Arpine Karpetian (23), and their two children, for several months.

Mr Amirian had attended the couple’s wedding in Belgium, which turned
out not to be a proper ceremony. Mr Bakunts was granted asylum to
live in this country.

Inquiries revealed Mr Bakunts was a security officer at Coopers and
was in charge of factory security from 6pm on December 20 until 6am
on December 21 2002.

Every two hours welfare checks of the factory were made and there
was no response to the 4am check.

Mr Bakunts was not present when the shift changed at 6am on the 21st.

He called in sick that day and on December 23 his partner called
saying he would be off for another two days. In fact he never went
back, said Mr Farrell.

Another employee, Wayne Coddington, told police that Mr Bakunts
sometimes turned up at work with another man who he claimed was his
brother but was in fact Mr Amirian, said Mr Farrell.

Mr Farrell said a post mortem by Home Office pathologist Dr Nat Cary
revealed four bullets were found in Mr Amirian’s head and face,
with multiple severe stab wounds to his trunk, which had all been
inflicted while he was still alive.

A blank firing pistol costing £92.95 had been bought by Mr Bakunts
from a gunshop on December 2, 2002, along with 50 blank cartridges.

The bullets used were home- made and lead used to convert the
cartridges into real bullets was available at Coopers, said Mr Farrell.

Mr Bakunts, of Litchfield Road, Yarmouth, and Mr Chatsjatrjan, of
The Straat, The Netherlands, deny murder.

The case continues.

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