Priest 'Dismembers' Wife, Hides Head in Freezer

A Russian priest from the Republic of Tatarstan has been detained on suspicion of murdering his wife.

Russian Orthodox priest Mikhail Zubarev, a former cleric of the Kazan Church in Nizhnekamsk, has been banned from the clergy, pending an ongoing investigation, the press service of the Diocese of Kazan said in a statement on Wednesday. The church added that the incident took place on October 31.

About 34 percent of the women killed in the U.S. in 2021 died at the hands of an intimate partner, according to the Bureau of Justice statistics. Only about 6 percent of the men killed in the U.S. in 2021 died from intimate-partner homicide.

"Priest Mikhail Zubarev, who was banned from the clergy, committed a terrible crime: the murder of his wife," the church's statement read. It added that he is in custody, and law-enforcement agencies are investigating the matter.

The Kremlin-aligned Russian online newspaper Mash said that Zubarev "stabbed his wife and then dismembered her" and hid her head in the freezer "where their children found it."

"So far, the main version is this: the clergyman killed his wife out of jealousy," Mash added on its Telegram channel.

Russian law-enforcement agencies haven't issued a statement on the incident.

The church said that, in recent months, there have been "noticeable oddities" in Zubarev's health, "casting doubt on his mental health."

"He disdained the Holy Gifts and behaved inappropriately with parishioners and fellow clergy," the statement read. "It's not that he offended or insulted anyone...There was simply an irreverent attitude towards service." Other priests also testified about his inappropriate behavior.

Mash said that Zubarev moved to Kazan from the Murmansk region, and in 2016, he was awarded the right to wear a pectoral cross for the work he had done for the good of the Church.

Zubarev moved to Tatarstan in 2014, according to the Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti, citing the Diocese of Kazan. He had served in the Murmansk diocese for a long time. Zubarev then intentionally failed to disclose his personal mental-health history when he relocated from Murmansk.

"When he moved... his personal records were not detailed, and he hid from the clergy the fact that he was registered at a [medical institution, where professional help is provided to people with mental-health issues] in Murmansk, where he was born and raised," the Diocese of Kazan said.

"We learned about this yesterday from the investigative authorities," the statement added.

The Diocese of Kazan extended condolences to the relatives of Zubarev's deceased wife.

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