Vasily Petrovich Losev

Names and identifiers

• Vasily Petrovich Losev, 45, was the father who killed his three sons and set their apartment on fire before killing himself in a nearby vacant lot.
• Galena Loseva, was separated from Vasily Petrovich Losev and was the mother of the three boys.
• Alexi, 9, was one of Losev’s sons.
• Alexander, 6, was one of Losev’s sons.
• Peter, 2, was one of Losev’s sons.
• Vera Lyubov, was one of Galena Loseva’s five sisters.
• Tim Heinrichs, was a brother-in-law.

Characteristics

• The case involved parricide and arson.

The offence

Vasily Petrovich Losev, 45, killed his three young sons and set their apartment on fire. The apartment fire consumed the apartment before it was extinguished about 6:15 p.m. Friday. Police did not say how Losev’s wounds were inflicted. Police said Losev likely used the same knife he used to kill the boys.

Investigation

A trail of blood led to Vasily Petrovich Losev, who was found in a grassy lot. Bloodstains on a nearby chain-link fence and sidewalk marked the path to his body. Police said they found the three boys in their apartment after the fire that consumed it was extinguished.

Family members said Losev knew his wife was coming to pick up the children, and that he killed the boys and then set the fire shortly before she was to arrive.

Timeline

• Jan. 17, 1999 — Peter Messmer’s wife, Elsie, died from a heart attack.
• Jan. 19 — A Fresno court decreed that Galina Messmer and Vasily Petrovich Losev would have joint custody of the three boys, Alexi, 9, Alexander, 6, and Peter, 2.
• Jan. 21 — Vasiliy Losev “called every minute,” according to Galina Messmer.
• Jan. 22, 1999 — Galina Messmer said Vasiliy Losev was despondent about their 8-month separation; she visited Clovis Cemetery to clear leaves from the gravesite of her three children ten years later.
• Jan. 22, 2009 — Ten years later, Galina Messmer visited Clovis Cemetery to clear leaves from the gravesite of her three murdered children.
• Jan. 23, 2009 — A newspaper article date included in the case material.
• Jan. 25, 1999 — A newspaper article date included in the case material.
• Friday (time reference: 6:15 p.m.) — The apartment fire consumed the apartment and was extinguished about 6:15 p.m.; the boys’ bodies were found nearly six hours earlier than Vasily Losev’s body was found.
• Saturday — Vasily Petrovich Losev was found in a grassy lot.

Background

Vasily Petrovich Losev and his wife had separated about six months before the deaths, after a 14-year marriage. Relatives said Losev was despondent about their 8-month separation. Losev and his wife had joint custody of the boys, Alexi, 9, Alexander, 6, and Peter, 2.

Galina Messmer was the former Galina Loseva. She was a Russian immigrant. Her married last name was derived from her husband’s name, Vasiliy Petrovich Losev.

Messmer obtained a restraining order against Losev and warned a judge that he was dangerously unstable. In addition, Messmer described that Losev violated the judge order and that he called and called, “Maybe drinking,” which Messmer said could be dangerous. She remembered his calls and her fears for the children.

Arrest

Losev was not described as being arrested. Police found Losev’s bloody body and said he had killed himself.

Trial

No trial details were included in the case material.

Sentencing

No sentencing information was included in the case material.

Appeals

No appeals information was included in the case material.

Outcome

Police believed Vasily Petrovich Losev killed himself after murdering his three young sons and setting their apartment on fire. Police said his body was found in a grassy lot Saturday, and his sons’ bodies were found in their apartment after the fire that consumed it was extinguished about 6:15 p.m. Friday. The case material reported that police said he likely used the same knife he used to kill the boys.

Family members said Losev knew his wife was coming and that he wanted her to see what he did. Vera Lyubov said: "We all know Vasily did it," and "And he wanted her to see it, too."

Aftermath

Galina Messmer visited Clovis Cemetery ten years after the deaths to clear leaves from the gravesite of her three murdered children. She placed red, white and peach-colored roses with white angel’s breath in the gravesite vases and stood and sang a Russian song to her young children. She translated moments later:

"Here on this earth, I'm always tired, and my soul is swimming in a sea of vanity. Only I know that a special future waits for me in heaven when He wipes away my tears and I never experience any pain, death or suffering and separation."

Messmer described communications and events before the killings. She said Losev called and she learned through calling the children’s school that they had been absent for days. She said she ran to school and called her sister, who called police to check on the kids. A police officer visited her husband’s apartment to ask why the children missed school for three days. Messmer said the officer saw Alexi and Alexander, and that Peter, the 2-year-old, was sleeping. Messmer said Losev told the officer the children missed school because they had colds. She said she felt fear when she learned about the police visit and said:

"I had something in my stomach. School keeps them safe."

She summarized what she feared would happen next and said:

"Police are there at 3 p.m. My kids die at 5:50."

Tim Heinrichs “took” her to the street where it was blocked and where she saw helicopters and fire and police. She said she saw fire from the children’s bedroom, that Tim grabbed her, and that she tried to check her children. She quoted a remark she recalled hearing:

"I'm sorry. Everybody inside is dead."

She said:

"I want to die,"
"I collapse."

She stated that police told her all three children were dead and said she was told their throats had been cut. She said:

"Police tell me all three. He cut their throat,"
"He cut their wrist, and he put them on fire. Can't find husband."

Messmer said:

"I am numb,"
"Tears, shock, like knife inside you feels so bad like bomb inside you. "I not believe I never going to see them."

Meeting a pen pal was described as Peter Messmer, 47, grieving over the sudden death of his wife, Elsie, on Jan. 17 from a heart attack. Galina’s sister, Nadia Anisimov, attended a small Baptist Church in Apalachin, N.Y., with Peter Messmer and began engineering a letter-writing friendship between the two. Peter Messmer wrote the first letter, sight unseen, on March 25, 1999. Another of Galina’s sisters, Lubov Heinrichs, translated their letters between Russian and English. A few months later, Galina visited Anisimov, was introduced to Peter Messmer, and returned to Fresno and to her children’s gravesite.

Messmer described hearing a spiritual voice at their markers and said it spoke to her with words she quoted:

"My child, do not be sad. Your boys are safe with me. No one will ever hurt them again."

She said she heard Alexi say:

"Mama, don't cry. We are so happy now."

She said she went for solace to the Rev. G.L. Johnson at Peoples Church and that people told her she was like Job in the Old Testament. She said that like Job, she found her life restored by God after a most bitter trial.

She described visiting Anisimov and her family again in New York, and that Anisimov and Peter Messmer welcomed Galina at JFK International Airport in New York. She stayed with her sister. She described that Peter Messmer worked on his dairy farm 90 minutes away in Interlaken, N.Y. After that, there were visits between Fresno and New York.

Messmer described a proposal at her children’s gravesite on Valentine’s Day 2000. She said it was a beautiful, sunny day and quoted the proposal interaction:

"It was a beautiful, sunny day. The sun was in her eyes. There in the sunshine I proposed to her."

She described Peter acting on inspiration by putting two hands to her cheeks and asking directly: Would she be his wife, and she quoted her response:

"Sure," she said, a big grin on her face, that Russian lilt to the word "Sure."

She stated they were married on March 25. She described that she believed God brought her to a new place and said:

"I believe that God grab me, put me in new place,"
"Money was gone. Peter love I never, ever experience before."

She said she was grateful for Peter’s love and for being loved and seeing how wonderful life could be after horrible tragedy if one believed in God.

She said she had become mother now of Peter’s children, Eva, 20, Steven, 18, Joshua, 15, and Jesse, 13, and she quoted Jesse:

"It is hard to understand,"
"hard to relate."
"She is funny,"
"She thinks a lot of things are funny. She's very joyful, and that sums it up."

She said she was strict with her new children in the old Russian custom. She described moving from Old Russia, born in St. Petersburg, to Fresno and then to upper New York state, where she lived on a dairy farm.

She observed a private ceremony on Thursday at the gravesite and spoke about ultimate evil, suffering and new life.