Ion Sholtoianu arrested in Varnitsa

Athlete Ion Sholtoianu, who is suspected of killing former policeman Ion Stratulat, was arrested the day after the murder in Varnita village of Anenii Noi district. In a news conference on September 21, the head of the Ministry of the Interior’s Operative Services Division Alexandu Jizdan said that all the available forces were mobilized to arrest Sholtoianu. Help was sought even from the Ukrainian colleagues. The sportsman was arrested at about 4pm on Tuesday and escorted to the General Police Commissariat in Chisinau, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to Alexandru Jizdan, negotiations were held with the athlete through his trustworthy persons before the arrest and he was convinced not to leave the country. Jizdan refused to give details about the exact place were the suspect was arrested, specifying only the settlement. He said that when Sholtoianu was arrested he had on him a TT pistol from which Ion Stratulat was shot. In 2003, Sholtoianu shot the leader of a criminal group from the same pistol, but was then acquitted. Ion Bodrug, the head of the Ministry of the Interior’s Police Department, said that only Ion Sholtoianu has been arrested so far. The other person who was at the table when the murder was committed and the driver of the car were only interrogated. The police are to establish if they are accomplices in the crime. Ion Sholtoianu was remanded in custody and is investigated for deliberate murder. He faces 12 to 20 years in jail or life imprisonment.