Georgian resident arrested in US family murder case

Malkhaz Kobauri, suspected of involvement in the murder of spouses and their child in the mountains of Georgia, has claimed that the people were killed by two people unknown to him.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on July 6, a couple with a four-year-old child disappeared in the Hada Gorge in the Dusheti District. Later, rescuers found the bodies of all three persons. A 19-year-old guy was arrested on suspicion of involvement in the murder of the spouses and their child.

The suspect claimed he did not commit the murder. "There were two strangers. They killed them and threatened me that they would kill my brothers and sisters," Malkhaz Kobauri said at trial.

Family members of Malkhaz Kobauri have also declared he is not guilty. According to a mother of the young man, she hopes the US Embassy in Georgia will intervene in the case and conduct the investigation, the "Sputnik-Georgia" reports.

The suspect faces 16-20 years or life imprisonment, the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) reports.

The "Interfax" reports with reference to the Georgian MIA that on July 4, in the course of a quarrel which occurred near a waterfall in the Hada Gorge, the suspect shot from a gun and killed a man with a child, while a woman fell while trying to escape to the gorge and died.

According to public prosecutor David Kazarashvili, the quarrel began after the man reproached Malkhaz Kobauri about mishandling the gun. "The defendants wore his gun in such a way that he put the child in danger," reports the public prosecutor as quoted by the "News-Georgia".