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GEORGIA-POLICE-CRIME-MURDER
US-Georgian couple and son, 4, murdered in Georgia: police
TBILISI, July 9, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – A US-Georgian couple and their four-
year-old son were murdered by a shepherd in a mountainous region of Georgia,
police said Monday.
Officers arrested a 19-year-old shepherd “on accusation of a
premeditated murder in aggravating circumstances” of the married couple and
their son, Georgia’s interior ministry said in a statement.
Investigators said the shepherd shot Ryan Smith and his son dead with a
hunting gun, while Laura fell into a ravine as she attempted to flee the
scene and died.
Their bodies were found by rescuers sent to the Dusheti region on Friday
after authorities received reports the couple had gone missing.
The Smiths had lived in the ex-Soviet nation since 2006 and in 2012
acquired citizenship.
The accused, who pleaded guilty, faces up to life in prison, the
statement said.
“The possibility of his criminal insanity will be clarified by a
psychiatric examination.”
BSS/AFP/RY/1900 hrs