Page 17 - AUA Traveller Aug 10

Hail CRACKS plane’s
WINDSHIELDS,
forces emergency landing
CANNIBALISM
suspected
in Russian
‘Granny
Ripper’ case
POLICE in the Russian city of St. Petersburg say they
are investigating cannibalism and occult sacrifice as
motives in the suspected slayings of at least 11 people “I have nowhere else to live. I am a very old person,
by a pensioner dubbed the “Granny Ripper.”
The suspect, 68-year-old Tamara Samsonova, a
former hotel worker, was arrested July 28 after
security video footage emerged of her taking several
large plastic bags out of the apartment block in the
middle of the night.
Police said the bags contained the body parts of
another pensioner, Valentina Ulanova, 79, with
whom the suspect temporarily lived as a carer.
After her arrest, Samsonova was pictured blowing
kisses to reporters in court, and she was videoed
celebrating when the judge informed her she would
be held in custody.
“I’m haunted by a maniac upstairs who forced me
ARUBA TRAVELLER - Monday, August 10 2015
THE passengers and the photos of cracked windshields and a
damaged nose cone tell the same story: Friday evening’s Delta
Flight 1889 was intense. Hail pelted the plane as it flew through
a thunderstorm, damaging part of the aircraft and forcing the
pilots to make an emergency landing in Denver, officials said.
“I fly constantly, and this was the scariest 10 minutes of my life,”
passenger Robin Jones said. The Airbus A320 departed Boston
and was scheduled to land in Salt Lake City, Utah, but the weather
prompted the pilots to land in Denver, the nearest suitable airport
once the storm hit, Delta spokeswoman Liz Savadelis said.
One person was taken to a hospital after the 8:42 p.m. MT
landing, Denver International Airport spokeswoman Laura Coale
said. Coale didn’t provide a reason, but did say the plane went
through “severe turbulence.” Jones took a different flight to Salt
Lake after landing in Denver, and spoke to KSTU upon arriving.
“I thought, ‘OK. Have I told everybody that I love that I love
them?’” Jones said, recalling the earlier flight. “And as soon as
I realized I had done that, I was like, ‘I’m all right. Everything’s
going to be OK.’ “ Savadelis said plane had cracked windshields
and damage to the radome -- the nose cone area that houses
weather radar and navigational equipment. Details on whether
that equipment was damaged weren’t immediately available.
Passengers posted pictures of the damage to social media.
Passenger Rob Wessman told KSTU about seeing the damage
after departing the plane. “We went around the corner from the
window, we could see the shattered windshield,” Wessman said.
“... We could see the nose of the plane was missing. It was really
intense.” Delta said it put Flight 1889 passengers on other flights
so that they could continue their trips. The Federal Aviation
Administration said it would investigate the incident.
to kill,” she told reporters through the bars of her whom she reported missing 10 years ago.
courtroom cage. Outside the apartment where police said the latest
killing took place, in a grimy suburb on the outskirts
and I put the whole matter to rest deliberately. I have of St. Petersburg, residents have placed flowers at the
thought 77 times about it and then decided that I door in memory of the victim, described by neighbors
must be in prison. I will die there and the state will as a kind old veteran who had temporarily taken in
probably bury me,” Samsonova said. Samsonova on the advice of social workers.
Police said they have evidence linking the suspect to Neighbors said they are shocked at what happened, but
at least 11 deaths. Police have not revealed evidence not altogether surprised. “That Tamara Samsonova is
to directly support allegations of cannibalism, but a very strange woman, tricky and suspicious,” said
they said she kept a detailed diary of her crimes. It is Natalia Fedatovskaya, an old friend of the victim.
believed the diary has references to cannibalism and “When I confronted her about my missing friend, she
the occult that have prompted police to investigate begged me not to call the police, and grabbed my arm.
those as possible motives. Police said she has The police told me later I was lucky to escape,” she
confessed to them in at least two killings. said. Police said they are scouring records of unsolved
Investigators said they suspect victims include other deaths to see just how many people Russia’s “Granny
neighbors, former tenants and Samsonova’s husband, Ripper” may have killed.
17INTERNATIONAL