A man who shot his estranged wife in the head in front of their 13-year-old son will spend the rest of his life in prison after a jury found him guilty of murder.
An Arapahoe County jury last week found Yury Sudakov, 44, guilty of first-degree murder after deliberation in the death of Svetlana Igolkin, who was 40. When Sudakov is sentenced on May 11, the statutory mandate is life in the Department of Correction without possibility of parole.
Sudakov and Igolkin were estranged, but he continued to live in a separate bedroom of their home on East Lake Lane in Centennial. The two argued over money, as well as relationships with other people.
In the early morning hours of Feb. 18, 2017, Sudakov asked Igolkin argued over finances. When she refused to give Sudakov money, he became enraged got a handgun from a shelf in the garage. He then went back to her bedroom where Igolkin was watching a movie with their 13-year-old son asleep beside her and shot her four times in the head at extremely close range.
Sudakov then shot himself one time in the chest, walked downstairs to the garage, and threw the gun into the yard.
The 13-year-old boy hid in the closet immediately after his father shot his mother. After he heard his father go downstairs, he rushed to his mother and called 911.
Officer arrived and found him at her side, holding her hand.
Sudakov was released from the hospital three days later and arrested.
“We are thankful for the jury’s verdict and that they saw through the defendant’s excuses for murdering Svetlana Igolkin in cold blood,” said Deputy District Attorney Kristina Hayden, who prosecuted the case with Chief Deputy District Attorney Jacob Edson. “The impact of domestic violence extends to the whole family, and we are hopeful that this family can now focus on healing from this tragedy.
“Monster. There is no other word to describe someone who would brutally murder a mother while her son lay next to her … and then force the boy to testify about it,” said District Attorney George Brauchler. “The only answer our system can render is a lifetime of incarceration, but that does nothing to replace what has been violently ripped away. We pray for this traumatized boy who will bear the weight of this horror.”
