At the hearing on 1 October in the case of the death of Asem Shabelskaya in Shchuchinsk, the prosecutor read out a transcript of conversations between the defendant Almaz Madiyev and a classified witness. In them, Madiyev says that he "lost it" and hit Asem, and says that he did not think she would die. The court also watched a video of the investigative experiment and examined the expert reports.
As a reminder, Asem Shabelskaya died in a hospital in Shchuchinsk on the night of 8 to 9 June 2026 from a double rupture of the liver and haemorrhage into the abdominal cavity after a meeting with Almaz Madiyev - a man with whom she had been in a relationship for about a year and a half.
WHAT MADIYEV TOLD THE CLASSIFIED WITNESS
The key part of the hearing, which journalists from FBRK attended, was the transcript of the audio recordings.
In them, Madiyev says that Asem "pushed" him, he lost it and hit her:
"I didn't think she would croak."
He says that he hit her with his fists in the face and in the temple, aiming for the jaw, and that in a state of aggression he "wasn't thinking straight" and does not remember how she screamed. He explained the question of how such an injury could be inflicted with a hand as follows:
"If I had used my foot, I would have run her through."
At the end of the recording, Madiyev says that he hopes to meet Asem after death and tell her:
"You ruined yourself and me."
WHAT MADIYEV SHOWED AT THE INVESTIGATIVE EXPERIMENT
The court also watched a video of the investigative experiment. In it, Madiyev shows how he hit Asem in the face, and then alternately with both hands in the stomach, after which he pushed her, and she hit her head on the radiator. According to him, Asem then clutched her stomach and tried to open the window, and he went off to call "her boyfriend".
When he returned, she was lying with her stomach on the windowsill and had wet herself. Call records confirmed that from 02:58 to 03:28 from Asem's phone, which had been taken from Madiyev, about 15 missed calls were made to police officer Viktor Geints. Geints himself had previously testified in court that his communication with Asem was friendly.
He explained why Madiyev did not call an ambulance immediately by saying that they had argued not for the first time, and he thought that nothing serious had happened. He attributed Asem's vomiting to alcohol and a cigarette she had smoked.
He searched for the ambulance number online before calling at 03:23 because, according to him, he is not local and did not think that 103 is a single number throughout the country. Before the medics arrived, he wiped the urine off the floor.
WHAT THE EXPERT REPORTS AND THE MEDICAL EXAMINATION SHOWED
A medical examination of Madiyev on 9 June showed that he was allegedly sober. An express test at 06:30 detected metabolites of cannabinoids in his urine, but without signs of intoxication. The narcologist suggested that the defendant had used psychoactive substances 3-7 days before the examination. According to an expert report dated 12 June, no bodily injuries were found on Madiyev himself.
A psychological and psychiatric expert report established that at the time of the act Madiyev was aware of his actions, could control them and was not in a state of affect. Among his characteristics, the experts noted sensitivity to situations that wound his self-esteem, and a tendency to blame others in conflicts.
The court also read out the conclusion of Asem's forensic medical examination. The cause of death was haemorrhagic shock from a double rupture of the liver; the expert considered a fall from the height of her own body unlikely, and no signs of disease were found. Asem's blood was found to contain 0.81 promille of alcohol - a mild degree of intoxication.
WHAT WITNESSES SAID EARLIER
At previous hearings, the court questioned ten witnesses and a forensic medical expert. To read what medics and witnesses said, see the FBRK article and watch our special episode
WHAT NEXT
The next hearing will take place on 8 October at 15:00. At it, the defendant himself will give testimony. Madiyev is charged under part 3 of article 106 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan ("Intentional infliction of grave harm to health, resulting in death through negligence"). Until the verdict enters into legal force, he is presumed innocent.