NC - Irina 'Ira' Yarmolenko, 20, murdered, Mount Holly, 5 May 2008 *previously GUILTY*Charges Dropped*

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New Details in Murder of UNCC Student
By NC WANTED Staff
Posted: Jun. 9, 2008 4:30 p.m.
Updated: Jun. 9, 2008 7:05 p.m.

GASTON COUNTY

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is based on an exclusive interview with Sgt. Fred N. Tindall of the Mount Holly Police Department. The interview was conducted on June 5, 2008, one month after the murder of UNC-Charlotte student Irina Yarmolenko.
http://www.ncwanted.com/ncwanted_home/story/3015952/
 
Thanks for the article. This case has made me think from the beginning that someone was in her back seat and told her where to drive. Especially since it was 20 miles from the coffee shop and the back entrance to a new construction project. LE should be looking at workers or delivery people for the site as someone knew to take her there to strangle her. The coffee shop people didn't see anyone when she left but this person could have been hiding on the floorboard in the back or jumped in her car at a stoplight.
 
This is one of the first times that I've felt the urge to jump into a case that's not cold. Please bear with me while I lay out how I got here.

I was reading at a different site and found a story that I'd read here about the woman who's stalker was found dead in her trunk. That happened at the beginning of June. The WS thread about this case can be found here:
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65838&highlight=trunk

Also missing in that case is the dead guy's son's fiance, who was last heard from on April 8. Her name is Jamie Fraley. She was very into true crime stories it seems, and had several MySpace pages listing JBR and others. Warning: Site may not be safe for work.
http://www.dreamindemon.com/2008/06/09/ricky-dale-simonds-made-a-big-stink/

Since she seemed like "one of us" at heart, I looked through our members list and did find a "Jamie". Curiously enough, her last post here in 2006 was on a JBR thread. There's a thread going in the Jury Room if anyone is interested. I'd asked for help cause I'm useless at MySpace stuff.

Jamie is missing from Gastonia, NC. Not too far from where Irina was missing from, I believe.

CP, you gave me chills when I saw your posting. I'm wondering too.

concernedperson said:
Thanks for the article. This case has made me think from the beginning that someone was in her back seat and told her where to drive. Especially since it was 20 miles from the coffee shop and the back entrance to a new construction project. LE should be looking at workers or delivery people for the site as someone knew to take her there to strangle her. The coffee shop people didn't see anyone when she left but this person could have been hiding on the floorboard in the back or jumped in her car at a stoplight.
Click to expand...

This guy, now dead, we know had a penchant for hiding in vehicles. He had an RO out for stalking. His son's fiance is missing. Stalking is a personal crime, and didn't I read here that Irina was strangled to death? It makes me wonder if she was being stalked instead of it being random.

Thoughts?
 
zelmajane said:
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/4128171/

They just charged two people with her murder.
Click to expand...


I'm glad to see they're still working on this case. I hope the people they have arrested are the guilty ones.

I read the article and I had forgotten what a beautiful girl she was, and looked so much younger than 20. I hope the arrests bring her and her family some peace.
 
I found an update from last month that had not been posted here. DNA from the 2 men arrested in December & charged with her murder has been recovered from inside her car. That's solid evidence & good news; LE has released very little information about this investigation which has caused complaints & questions.... Also, this article reveals that Ira had likely gone to that spot on the riverbank to make pictures for a photography class. If that is the case, she must have encountered the killers (who said they had been fishing but insist they did not kill her) at or near the place her body was discovered instead of having been car-jacked in town as has been speculated all along. Read the link to learn how a professor discovered her photo processing in the darkroom.

Carver & Cassada remain jailed on $1M bond each. Cassada passed a polygraph, but LE says there is too much evidence & random coincidences that overlap in this hideous crime. What the other evidence is, I guess we will learn at the trial.

http://www.nineronline.com/news/new_dna_evidence_links_suspects_to_ira_yarmolenko_murder-1.1354340
 
I am confused by the wording of the post that is copied / pasted below:

http://www.nineronline.com/news/new_dna_evidence_links_suspects_to_ira_yarmolenko_ murder-1.1354340

"The photograph is not the only peculiar recent finding of this case. After analysis of her camera and its last configured settings, it is clear that someone had taken the film out of her camera and then snapped a couple shots to advance the frame counter as if they were trying to cover something up".

Does this mean the film was advanced but left inside the camera? And because it says 'film', I am thinking it was probably not a digital camera.

And one other question, I had always thought Irena had been 'blitzed' attacked somewhere other than the river/lake area. As in, she had been doing errands that morning and had been attacked and then forced to drive to the secluded location where she ulitimately died. It sounds like these men were in the area and Irena's death was more a crime of opportunity? Maybe I have missed some pertinant information. If so, I apologize for the redundancy of my post..................


*Bolding mine.
 
I'm confused too. It says that her car travelled down the embankment at approximately 15 mph and hit a treet stump. If she had gone to that particular spot to take pictures would she have driven her car down there? Was she parked elsewhere and then the two men pushed her car there? Maybe all of this is obivious to everyone else but I didn't quite understand that part.
 
Multiple media outlets reported 55-year-old Neal Cassada's lawyer said his client died at home Sunday morning.


Cassada was scheduled for trial Monday on charges of first degree murder and criminal conspiracy in the 2008 death of 20-year-old Irina Yarmolenko in Gaston County.




Cassada's cousin, Mark Carver of Gastonia, is awaiting trial.

Read more: http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/10/11/1747253/suspect-in-uncc-student-death.html#ixzz123axIE5a​


http://www.thesunnews.com/2010/10/11/1747253/suspect-in-uncc-student-death.html#ixzz123ajK1Cw​
 
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/10/11/1753499/accused-killer-dies-the-day-before.html

A family member had just read Cassada a Gaston Gazette article about his case when Cassada, who had a history of breathing and heart trouble, asked for his inhaler, said Cassada's lawyer, David Phillips.

Cassada had only a fifth-grade education and could not read, Phillips said.

Then, according to Cassada's daughter, her father stood up and collapsed, Phillips said. Gaston County police were dispatched to the home at 10:19 a.m. Attempts to revive him with CPR failed.
 
This case was covered on Dateline tonight and was very interesting and sad.
The second suspect was ultimately tried and convicted,but still claims innocence.
 
Hi there, I'm new here and watched this Dateline special. I had been following the Casey Anthony case (not happy about that result) and heard this story. I had never heard of it before.

After watching the show, doing some searches online, and then reading this thread, I am concerned that the man jailed is not the right person, nor his cousin who passed before the trial started.

I certainly do not want to offend the family and friends of Irina as she sounds like an amazing person and I can understand they must want some semblance of closure for this tragedy.

Although there was one DNA sample that matched Carver, nothing else matched either of these men. Also, I noticed the handprint on the car looked large with long fingers and narrow palm width. Both of the accused looked stockier than someone who possessed this hand print. As far as I know there was nothing in the evidence that corroborated the handprint shape and size as matching one of the accused.

There is so much more to say here, such as why would one of the fishermen still be there and why would they have been so close to the crime still fishing when police arrived? The men had ample time to leave the scene and no one would have been the wiser. Also, why would DNA be volunteered if guilty (that sounds really off). Neither men had any sort of criminal record.

IMO, the murderer is still out there and that Janet's car was not too far from Irina's crime scene is extremely coincidental or extremely related. Also, I get the impression that neither woman was raped, just murdered (I haven't heard anything definitive of Janet's death being a decisive homicide, so this theory is dependent on those results).
 
I watched the dateline special last night. What was the motive for the men killing Irina? Something doesn't make sense.
 
MaraSleuth said:
I watched the dateline special last night. What was the motive for the men killing Irina? Something doesn't make sense.
Click to expand...

I STRONGLY suspect this happened:

Two men, sexually frustrated, fishing on a hot day, saw a pretty young women taking pictures in their direction, they felt a mix of anger (why is she filming us) and excitement. As they approached, she spurned their advances and they lashed out.

I've experienced this type of event many times. Older men can be very bad tempered when they discover someone much younger, "in their space."

The "young lady, please move away" or "Young man can I help you" scenario happens all the time. Moody older men who just need a fight.
 
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