Ex-Soldier Confesses to Assassination of Investigative Journalist Jan Kuciak in Slovakia
The suspect in question was previously believed to have been the driver of the suspected hitman.
An ex-soldier has confessed to the double murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová in Slovakia that shocked the world last year.
27-year-old Ján Kuciak and his fiancée Martina Kušnírová were killed on February 21, 2018, in their home in Slovakia’s Veľká Mača, Trnava Region.
Kuciak was an investigative journalist for the Aktuality.sk website, dealing mostly with stories concerning tax fraud, government corruption, and ties between Slovak politicians and the Italian mafia.
The brutal murder of the journalist and his fiancée made global headlines, and rattled Slovakia’s political landscape, most recently contributing to propelling anti-corruption activist Zuzana Čaputová to the country’s Presidency.
A murky Slovak businessman, Marian Kocner, was recently charged with ordering Jan Kuciak’s assassination.
One of the four suspects in custody for the double murder, ex-soldier Miroslav Marcek, confessed during his interrogation on April 11, 2019, that he shot dead the young couple, The Slovak Spectator reported, citing sources from the investigation.
The police had originally investigated the version that Marček was a driver who drove hit man Tomáš Szabó to the crime scene. The two men are cousins.
Marček was brought after 6 hours of interrogation in Nitra to Sládkovičovo and to Veľká Mača (both in Trnava Region), where the couple was shot dead.
Of the other suspects, Alena Zsuzsová has been suspected of actually ordering and paying for the murder, and Zoltán Andruskó of being a go-between.
Andruskó reportedly cooperated with the police and testified against businessman Marian Kočner.
Andruskó is said to have promised EUR 20,000 as a reward to each Szabó and Marček, and is said to have planned to keep EUR 10,000 for himself.
In October 2018, Slovakia’s Prosecutor’s office announced that the price of the murder was EUR 70,000, with EUR 20,000 being debt remission.
After he left the Slovak army, Marček worked as a taxi driver, security guard, and shop assistant.
Jan Kuciak had been investigating alleged connections between Slovak businessmen and politicians, and Italy’s notorious ‘Ndrangheta mafia, including involvement in irregularities over EU agricultural funding.
Police divers are reported to already be searching a river for weapons or other evidence connected with Kuciak’s assassination.
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