A Russian flight attendant who fled to the United Arab Emirates to escape her alleged stalker has been found dead in a five-star hotel.
Anastasia Nikulina, 25, had moved to Dubai from St Petersburg for a new job in a ‘desperate’ attempt to escape her alleged stalker.
She had told friends she feared the nightmare experience would ‘go on forever’, and began looking for a job with another airline to escape Russia.
A friend said she had flown to Dubai for an interview when she was found dead with 15 stab wounds in her neck, torso and limbs at the Voco Bonnington Dubai hotel.
The suspect in her murder, Albert Morgan, 41, allegedly followed her to Dubai with an accomplice and boarded a flight to Russia soon after the killing.
Morgan – who changed his last name after a seven-year jail term for drug offences – is accused of breaking into her hotel room.
His alleged accomplice – a bailiff from St Petersburg – had followed the flight attendant from the lobby to ascertain her room number.
Morgan then ‘stole a hotel robe from a laundry section’ and persuaded a maid to open the door to Anastasia’s room, claiming he forgot his key.
Police reports say he then accused her ofworking as an escort with VIP passengers while dating him.
Russian media Komsomolskaya Pravda reported: ‘As she lay dying, he poured antiseptic dye over her body before fleeing the hotel. The young woman’s attempt to start a new life abroad ended in unimaginable horror.’
The flight attendant’s body was found by hotel staff a few hours later in a pool of blood.
In an earlier attempt to get Morgan to leave her alone, Anastasia reportedly paid him £10,000 – to no avail.
For almost two years, Morgan allegedly stalked her, beat her, broke into her home and terrorised her, even as she reported him to the police multiple times.
Dubai police identified him from hotel CCTV and notified Russian law enforcement, who arrested the suspect after he had flown back to St Petersburg.
On arrival back in Russia, before he was detained, Morgan had sent requests to be sent to the war against Ukraine, say reports.
Under Vladimir Putin’s laws, this is a method many alleged criminals evade facing justice by signing up as fighters.
Despite this, footage shows the suspect wearing a hat and mask in a Russian court where he was remanded in custody for two months over the flight attendant’s death.
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