Russian court orders murder-suspect professor detained

Russian court orders murder-suspect professor detained
Oleg Sokolov, a history professor at St. Petersburg State University, left, listens to his lawyer sitting in a cage waiting for a court session in St. Petersburg, Russia, Monday, Nov. 11, 2019. The lawyer for a prominent Russian history professor suspected of murdering a female student, some of whose remains were found in his residence, is asking for him to be released under house arrest pending trial. The case of Oleg Sokolov has attracted wide attention in Russian media because of its grisly drama. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)

MOSCOW (AP) — A St. Petersburg court has rejected a defense lawyer’s request for a prominent Russian history professor who’s suspected of murdering and dismembering a female student to be released under house arrest pending trial.

The court on Monday ordered Oleg Sokolov detained for two months.

The case has attracted wide attention in Russian media because of its grisly aspects.

Sokolov was detained Saturday after being pulled from St. Petersburg’s Moika River, where a backpack containing two severed arms also was found. The arms were identified as those of the student; other body parts were found in Sokolov’s home near the river.

Sokolov has confessed to the killing, according to his lawyer, Alexander Pochuev.