Nikolay Lazukin

Background

Nikolay “Nick” Lazukin was a 27-year-old man suspected of killing his wife and three children in their Salem home in May, then shooting himself. Investigators said that during the same four-hour span he also killed an unrelated man whose body was found just blocks away.

Friends and family said the Lazukins had no history of domestic abuse, and Matlock had never met them.

Artem Lazukin posted photographs of Nikolay “Nick” Lazukin after an autopsy conducted Wednesday. Artem Lazukin said his brother was innocent and being framed.

Police declined to elaborate on motive, and friends said the Lazukins were a happy family.

The offence

Investigators determined that Nikolay “Nick” Lazukin beat Devin Matlock to death while Matlock was walking home from a friend’s apartment at about 2 a.m. on May 22.

Lazukin then killed his wife, Natalya, and their daughters—Angelica, 3; Zoe, 1; and Sulamia, 4 months—at the family home in Salem.

Natalya Lazukin was shot twice in the head. Angelica was shot once in the head. Zoe was shot twice in the head. Baby Sulamia died of traumatic asphyxiation in her crib in the master bedroom.

Investigators said Lazukin used loaves of bread to muffle the shots from a .380 handgun that a family member had given him. After killing his family, he spread gasoline in the attic stairway, the entry to the older girls’ bedroom and the master bedroom, then set them all ablaze.

After killing his family, Lazukin returned to the Jeep, asked a woman whether she had heard him arguing with his wife, and then left with her after she said she did not hear anything.

Investigation

Investigators determined that Lazukin beat Devin Matlock to death. Investigators said there was no indication that Lazukin and Matlock knew each other, or that Matlock knew Lazukin’s family.

An autopsy found that Nikolay “Nick” Lazukin was not intoxicated during the fatal four-hour span.

Investigators said Lazukin was signed on to his online account at Chemeketa Community College sometime before midnight.

Matlock’s blood was found on a baseball bat in Lazukin’s Jeep and on Lazukin’s shoes, and an autopsy found imprints from the shoe soles on Matlock’s jaw.

Dr. Larry Lewman of the state medical examiner’s office said Matlock died of blunt force head injuries and suffered a broken nose, jaw and cranium. Dr. Newman also said it appeared Lazukin had stomped on Matlock’s face with his shoe.

Investigators interviewed more than 100 people during their investigation.

Police were also investigating the mysterious death of 21-year-old Tatyana Tupikova, 22, killed in an unsolved hit-and-run in Battle Ground on May 11, and the investigations remained separate.

Lt. Dave Okada said there were two teams of investigators working on both incidents and that they were still separate investigations.

Arrest

No arrest was described. Lazukin died alone in the Jeep’s back seat of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head.

Trial

No trial is described.

Sentencing

No sentencing is described.

Appeals

No appeals are described.

Outcome

Investigators said Lazukin committed suicide by shooting himself the same day. His body was found in the Jeep Cherokee.

Investigators said the woman who rode with Lazukin was not a suspect in the killings.

Police found the bodies of the mother and her children after a neighbor saw smoke and called firefighters around 5:30 a.m., and firefighters found four bodies in the small, smoldering house in the 2500 block of Fisher Road Northeast.

Aftermath

Salem Police noticed a vehicle missing and put out an alert to law enforcement agencies to look out for the Lazukins’ red Jeep. The Jeep was found at a Comfort Inn in Cottage Grove, and Cottage Grove police came to the front desk of the hotel just off Interstate 5 about 80 miles south of Salem.

A clerk, Bikramjit Singh, said officers asked if anyone driving a Jeep with an Oregon license plate had checked into the hotel. Singh said they had no one check in with that kind of car. Minutes later, Singh said police found Nikolay “Nick” Lazukin’s body inside the Jeep and called for Salem Police Department detectives.

Detectives and crime scene investigators spent about seven hours processing the Jeep.

A memorial service for the Lazukin family was scheduled for 5 p.m. Monday at the Slavic Christian Church of Salem, 4913 Auburn Rd. NE. The Nick and Natalya Lazukin Family fund was established at any Wells Fargo Bank branch to help pay for funeral services and burial.

Friends continued to visit the Northeast Salem home, including Amy Walcott and Renee Thompson, who drove down from Portland. They dropped off personalized aprons for the girls and a spinning pinwheel with the names of all three girls. One apron read: “Angelica, no more pain, fly with the angels,” and another read: “So sorry, you are safe in heaven now.”

Pastor Vyacheslav Boynetskiy said the family attended his church for several years and called the deaths a tragedy, saying: “I don't know what happened, why. For me, there is many many questions.”

The Slavic community administrator Peter Ignatovich said the community was reeling over the loss and described the Lazukins as a “very happy couple.” He added: “All the speculations are just speculations now,” and “We don't know what caused this or what happened.” Ignatovich also said: “It is very shocking that Nick is being portrayed as someone who would commit all these crimes because it never came across that Nick would do this to his kids. He loved them and adored them and would do everything that a good dad would do.”

Rosa Chavez, 30, said she lived across the street from the home and was up until 2 a.m. and did not hear a commotion.

Lt. Dave Okada said: “They're going through a lot of trauma right now, there's a lot of emotion. Our investigators are staying in very close contact with the family, to make sure there is no communication gap. Very close contact. There are things that we can not tell the family, or anybody, because we're still investigating.”

Timeline

• May 11 — Tatyana Tupikova, 22, was killed in an unsolved hit-and-run in Battle Ground.
• May 22 (about 2 a.m.) — Devin Matlock was beaten to death while walking home from a friend’s apartment.
• May 22 (about 2:50 a.m.) — Lazukin left a Super 8 Motel parking lot with a 28-year-old woman in the Jeep.
• May 22 (about 3:30 a.m.) — Surveillance showed the Jeep stopping in the Wal-Mart store parking lot.
• May 22 (about 4:05 a.m.) — Lazukin left the Wal-Mart parking lot without the 28-year-old woman.
• May 22 (a little before 4:30 a.m.) — A delivery truck driver discovered Matlock’s body on Fisher Road Northeast, about 500 yards from the family home.
• May 22 (about 5:30 a.m.) — A neighbor saw smoke at the Lazukin home and called firefighters, who found the bodies of the mother and her children.
• May 22 (after 5:30 a.m.) — Lazukin drove onto Interstate 5 headed south, stopped in a motel parking lot near Exit 174 in Cottage Grove, and texted his father-in-law from his wife’s iPhone.
• May 22 (a little after 6 a.m.) — Natalya Lazukin’s father received the text message indicating the exit where Nick Lazukin’s body eventually was found.
• May 22 (same day) — Lazukin was found dead in the Jeep’s back seat of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head.

Other details

Lazukin’s text to his wife’s cellphone read:

“Please forgive me,”
“They took control of my body and did it. I BEGGED THEM NOT TO BUT THEY DID. I'm so sorry.”
“PLEASE GOD FORGIVE ME. MY LAST FIGHT I HAVE LOST AT EXIT 174.”

Investigators said Lazukin asked the 28-year-old woman whether she would remember him if police contacted her, and she said yes.

Investigators said Lazukin gave the woman $25 to buy a cell phone and drove her to Wal-Mart. The woman later told investigators that Lazukin said he lived with his ex-wife and three children and that he was looking for cocaine, and he asked her to go to Hawaii or Mexico with him.

The woman told investigators that Lazukin told her he was going to get some money and that she thought she saw him take firearm magazines out of the glove compartment. She said Lazukin left her in the Jeep and then killed his wife and daughters.

Investigators said Lazukin spread gasoline in the attic stairway, the entry to the older girls’ bedroom and the master bedroom, then set them ablaze.

Investigators said Lazukin apparently saw the delivery truck driver discover Matlock’s body and then turned around and drove away after the driver called police.

Investigators said Nick Lazukin used loaves of bread to muffle the shots from a .380 handgun given by a family member.

A Salem resident, Rosa Chavez, said windows of the home had been blown out and that there was an explosives squad outside.

A memorial at 8 p.m. was planned at the house by members of Salem’s Slavic Christian Church.

People

• Nikolay “Nick” Lazukin (27) — suspected of killing his wife and three children, beating Devin Matlock to death, and committing suicide by shooting himself the same day.
• Devin Matlock (21) — unrelated man whose body was found just blocks away from Lazukin’s home; he was beaten to death.
• Natalya Lazukin (26) — Lazukin’s wife; she was shot twice in the head.
• Angelica Lazukin (3) — Lazukin’s daughter; shot once in the head.
• Zoe Lazukin (1) — Lazukin’s daughter; shot twice in the head.
• Sulamia “Sefi” Lazukin (4 months) — Lazukin’s infant; died of traumatic asphyxiation in her crib.
• Artem Lazukin — Lazukin’s brother; posted autopsy photographs and said Lazukin was innocent and framed.
• Christina Lowe (27) — woman seen on surveillance leaving a Super 8 motel at 2:30 a.m. on May 22; she said Lazukin agreed to give her a ride and that he asked her if she wanted to go Hawaii or Mexico with him.
• Lt. Dave Okada — spokesman for the Salem Police Department.
• Dr. Larry Lewman — state medical examiner’s office; performed or referenced autopsies and stated Sefi’s cause of death as asphyxiation and Matlock’s blunt force head injuries.
• Dr. Karen Gunson — Oregon State Medical Examiner; commented on autopsy injuries and conspiracy theories.
• Dr. Newman — Oregon Medical Examiner’s Office; said Matlock died of blunt force head injuries and described other injuries.
• Helen Jung — Oregonian reporter who contributed to the story.
• Everton Bailey Jr. — Oregonian reporter who wrote a May 10, 2012 article headlined “Salem man kills stranger, wife, kids, self in four-hour span, DA says.”
• Kimberly A.C. Wilson — Oregonian reporter.
• Stuart Tonlison — Oregonian reporter.
• Colleen Matlock — Matlock’s mother; said police told her she had died in a possible hit-and-run and that her son’s head and face were smashed in.
• Bikramjit Singh — clerk at the Comfort Inn in Cottage Grove.
• Peter Ignatovich — administrator at the Slavic Christian Church.
• Pastor Vyacheslav Boynetskiy — pastor who spoke Russian and described the family’s attendance and said: “I don't know what happened, why.
• Amy Walcott — visited and left items at the home.
• Renee Thompson — visited and left items at the home.
• Shalee Hernandez — Matlock’s sister; said Matlock’s family was told he was at the wrong place at the wrong time and said: “We have to relive the heartache and the pain,” and “It's just too much.”