FILE In this file photo taken on Monday, Nov. 11, 2019, Oleg Sokolov, a history professor at St. Petersburg State University sits in a cage waiting for a court session in St. Petersburg, Russia. A court in St. Petersburg has ruled to delay the trial of a prominent history professor charged with murdering and dismembering a female student. The St. Petersburg City Court put off the trial's opening until Monday, June 15, 2020 on request of the defendant's lawyers, who argued that they hadn't had enough time to study the evidence. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
The Associated Press
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) - A court in St. Petersburg on Friday convicted a prominent history professor on charges of murdering and dismembering a female student and sentenced him to 12 1/2 years in prison.
The court found 64-year-old Oleg Sokolov, who taught at St. Petersburg State University, guilty of shooting and killing 24-year-old doctoral student Anastasia Yeshchenko at his apartment in November 2019.
Sokolov was detained after being pulled from the Moika River outside his St. Petersburg apartment with a backpack with two severed arms inside.
The limbs were identified as Yeshchenko's, and investigators found other body parts in the river and in Sokolov's apartment in the historic part of St. Petersburg, less than a mile from the Hermitage Museum.
During the trial, Sokolov testified that he and Yeshchenko had a romantic relationship and that he shot her during a quarrel.
Prosecutors have requested a 15-year sentence.
Sokolov was known for his books about the Napoleonic era and his enthusiastic participation in reenactments of historic battles, and his case attracted broad attention in Russia.
A fluent French speaker, Sokolov was a leading member of military reenactment movements since the early 1990s and represented Napoleon in numerous representations of historic battles and other events.
Sokolov's flamboyant style and fiery delivery made him popular among students, and he spoke about his passion for the Napoleonic era in TV interviews. Napoleon was his idol and fellow history buffs would address him '~Sire,' the emperor's title.
FILE - In this Sunday, Sept. 16, 2012 file photo, Oleg Sokolov, a history professor at St. Petersburg State University, wears a 1812-era French army general's uniforms during a staged battle re-enactment to mark the 200th anniversary of the battle of Borodino which in 1812 was the largest and bloodiest single-day action of the French invasion of Russia, in St.Petersburg, Russia. A court in St. Petersburg has convicted a prominent history professor on charges of murdering and dismembering a female student and sentenced him to 12 1/2 years in prison. The court found 64-year-old Oleg Sokolov, who taught at St. Petersburg State University, guilty of shooting and killing 24-year-old doctoral student Anastasia Yeshchenko at his apartment in November 2019 and then dismembering her body. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
The Associated Press
Historian Oleg Sokolov stands in a cage listening a court verdict in St.Petersburg, Russia, Friday, Dec. 25, 2020. A court in St. Petersburg has convicted a prominent history professor on charges of murdering and dismembering a female student and sentenced him to 12 1/2 years in prison. The court found 64-year-old Oleg Sokolov, who taught at St. Petersburg State University, guilty of shooting and killing 24-year-old doctoral student Anastasia Yeshchenko at his apartment in November 2019 and then dismembering her body. (AP Photo/Valentin Egorshin)
The Associated Press
FILE - In this Monday, Jan. 7, 2013 file photo, Oleg Sokolov, a history professor at St. Petersburg State University, wears a 1812-era French army general's uniform during a reenactment of the French Invasion of Russia in 1812, during celebrations to mark the Russian Orthodox Christmas in St.Petersburg, Russia. A court in St. Petersburg has convicted a prominent history professor on charges of murdering and dismembering a female student and sentenced him to 12 1/2 years in prison. The court found 64-year-old Oleg Sokolov, who taught at St. Petersburg State University, guilty of shooting and killing 24-year-old doctoral student Anastasia Yeshchenko at his apartment in November 2019 and then dismembering her body. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)
The Associated Press