Mundelein police release 911 recording after murder-suicide

A chilling 911 recording indicated Alina S. Rybnikova was “cold and turning blue” when her roommate and mother found her stabbed and bleeding to death in the garage of her Mundelein duplex.

With Rybnikova’s mother audibly upset in the background, roommate Viktoriia Zamrii calmly told a police dispatcher her friend had been stabbed by an unknown assailant.

“Is the person bleeding?” the dispatcher asked.

“Yes, yes,” Zamrii, 23, responded.

The six-minute digital recording, made early Wednesday morning, was released to the Daily Herald by Mundelein police Thursday afternoon.

Rybnikova, 22, of the 1300 block of Newport Street, was murdered by her mother’s ex-boyfriend, Gennadiy Plaksa, police said. Plaksa then took his own life, shooting himself in a car down the street from the house, police said.

An autopsy conducted Thursday confirmed what police had already told the media: Plaksa, 44, suffered a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head from a 9 mm pistol, Lake County Coroner Artis Yancey said.

Toxicology tests have not been completed.

Police say Plaksa murdered Rybnikova and held her mother — Galina Zaborowski, 45, of Wisconsin — captive for several hours in an ordeal that began Tuesday night and ended with Plaksa’s death about 1:40 a.m. Wednesday.

Plaksa ambushed Rybnikova and then Zaborowski in the home because Zaborowski broke up with him last year, police said.

Correcting earlier information, police on Thursday said Plaksa had most recently lived on the 4300 block of Newland Avenue in Harwood Heights, not in Palatine as first reported. His driver’s license was not up to date, Mundelein Deputy Police Chief John Monahan said.

Zamrii called 911 about 1:37 a.m. Wednesday after returning to the duplex from work. Zaborowski had called Zamrii after being freed and asked her to come home, police said.

They discovered Rybnikova’s bleeding body together, police said.

In the recording, the dispatcher asked Zamrii about the emergency.

“I think we have a dead person in here,” Zamrii responded. “I don’t know what happened.”

Screaming can be heard in the background of the recording, but Zamrii remained calm, even as she told the dispatcher her friend had been stabbed.

“We need an ambulance here as fast as you can,” Zamrii said. “She still has a heartbeat, but she’s cold and blue.”

Police officers arrived while Zamrii was on the phone with the dispatcher. She said she didn’t know who attacked Rybnikova.

Rybnikova was dead when officers arrived, police have said.

An autopsy showed Rybnikova died of two stab wounds to her heart, Yancey said. She also suffered other stab wounds to the torso, and she had a head wound from being struck with a baseball bat, authorities said.

Zaborowski was injured but survived. She was discharged from Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville on Wednesday night, a hospital spokeswoman said.

The case remains under investigation by Mundelein police and the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force.

To listen to the 911 recording, go to dailyherald.com.