4 Attempts Fail To Kill Couple
By ELAINE SILVESTRINI, The Tampa Tribune
Published: January 9, 2008
TAMPA – Someone really wanted to kill Grigori and Galina Komissarchuk.
The couple, in their 60s, have homes in Sarasota and Brooklyn, N.Y., and were
attacked at least four times at their homes and other places, according to
federal court records. One time the attacker used a hammer. Both of them
suffered skull fractures and other injuries.
Federal authorities have arrested and charged a man they identify as Edmon
Vardanyan, 23, with traveling in interstate commerce with the intent to kill,
injure or harass, according to a federal complaint. He was booked Tuesday at
Orient Road Jail, his address listed as 4202 Bismarck Palm Drive, Tampa.
Vardanyan told investigators he was hired to kill the pair because they
refused to pay a debt, the complaint states. He told investigators he was paid
between $800 and $1,000 and had been offered $10,000 each to kill the couple.
The first encounter happened Sept. 24, 2006, when a man showed up at the
Komissarchuks’ Brooklyn home with an envelope marked "TLC," the complaint
states.
The deliveryman asked to come inside for water, but Grigori Komissarchuk
refused. The man "positioned himself as if preparing to strike" Komissarchuk,
who summoned his neighbor. The delivery man then quickly walked away, the
complaint states.
Komissarchuk later identified the deliveryman as Vardanyan.
The next day, Grigori Komissarchuk was beaten unconcious while returning to
his car in the parking lot of a Home Depot in Brooklyn, the complaint states.
Komissarchuk required surgery for internal injuries, according to the
complaint, had facial fractures and was in the hospital for two weeks.
On Dec. 6, 2006, the Komissarchuks were in their Sarasota home when, as they
returned from a family dinner, an assailant with a hammer ducked under the
closing garage door.
He attacked Galina Komissarchuk, and as her husband attempted to shield her,
the attacker beat them both, the complaint states.
Grigori Komissarchuk then cornered the man in the Jacuzzi room, and the
attacker hit him on the head with the hammer before running away, the complaint
states.
Grigori Komissarchuk suffered a skull fracture, cuts on his head and arm
bruises, the complaint states. Galina Komissarchuk suffered two cuts on her
head and bruises on her arms and face.
Galina Komissarchuk later identified the assailant as Vardanyan.
In Brooklyn on April 30, 2007, a man hit Galina Komissarchuk on the head,
fracturing her skull. Grigori Komissarchuk and a neighbor chased the attacker
down the street before losing him, the complaint states.
New York police later arrested Vardanyan, who was in a van with a Sarasota
County license plate. He was released, the complaint states.
Vardanyan was arrested again, the complaint states. In interviews with
investigators, he said he followed the couple to their Sarasota home and
watched them. He said he was in their neighborhood at the time of the attack.
He said he had a hammer in his van, but denied being involved in the attack,
the complaint states.
Vardanyan also told investigators he was with another individual April 30 and
watched Galina Komissarchuk return home. He said he approached her and
pushed her to the ground, but denied hitting her in the head, the complaint
states.
He told investigators he wasn’t paid for that attack because "he didn’t do
the job correctly," the complaint states.
Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837 or
[email protected].