BREAKING: Islamic State (IS) Releases Video Showing Beheading of U.S. Journalist Steven Joel Sotloff [ VIDEO's / Pics ] - www.ofINTEREST.net

WARNING: Graphic video content may not be suitable for all ages.

Still pic from the James Wright Foley beheading video showing Steven Joel Sotloff being threatened.

BREAKING: Islamic State (IS) Releases Video Showing Beheading of U.S. Journalist Steven Joel Sotloff

Mikhael Love, IIO

U.S. journalist Steven Joel Sotloff; Daily Caller profile pic.

The Islamic State (IS) released a video today, 02 Sept. 2014, purporting to show the beheading of American hostage Steven Joel Sotloff. This seems to of raised the stakes in its confrontation with Washington over U.S. air strikes on its fighters in Iraq.

The Sotloff family was aware of the video Tuesday and was grieving, a family spokesman told the Associated Press.

American journalist Steven Sotloff (center with black helmet) talks to Libyan rebels on the Al Dafniya front line in June 2011 in Misrata, Libya.

The video is similar to the one James Wright Foley was beheaded in and ends with threatening another captive, a Briton, David Cawthorne Haines. (at the end of the accompanying video )

In Washington, the White House said it could not immediately confirm that Islamic State had released a video of Sotloff's beheading.

“We have seen a video that purports to be the murder of U.S. citizen Steven Sotloff by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The intelligence community is working as quickly as possible to determine its authenticity," National Security Council spokesperson Bernadette Meehan said in a statement.

"If genuine, we are appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American journalist and we express our deepest condolences to his family and friends.  We will provide more information when it is available.”

The United States is taking the Islamic State insurgents far more seriously now than it did six months ago, when Obama told the New Yorker magazine that they were the "JV team," which is short for "junior varsity" and means they are not the best players on the field.

On Aug. 24, al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front militants in Syria freed an American writer, Peter Theo Curtis, who had been missing since 2012, following what officials said were efforts by the Gulf Arab state of Qatar to secure his release.

The authenticity of the video, which took an unusually long time to reach ISIS forums, often the first sources for such videos, has yet to be confirmed. The video was titled “A second message to America,” and again started with footage of oratory from U.S. President Barack Obama, before cutting to a scripted anti-US monologue delivered by an emotionless Sotloff, draped in orange clothing (reminiscent of Guantanamo inmates) and on his knees in another arid hilltop landscape beside his executioner.

It appears from chatter on ISIS forums that the initial video release was an unintentional leak from within ISIS circles. An ISIS-affiliated twitter account (now suspended) published the video ahead of the prescribed time. Another ISIS-affiliated account, @Khattabyaz pulled them up on their error, but at that point it was too late, and the video was in circulation. The group then apologised to its followers for the lack of discipline in a text missive on Justpaste, saying:

“A clarification about the mistake was made by “Uyun al-Ummah” account, that has published the video before the official time.

The user saw a tweet with the video and thought it was published officially. We tried to remove the video after we understood that his was published by mistake, and we are sorry to the followers of the Islamic State.”
 

The accompanying 2 minute, 46 second video was produced by the group’s al-Furqan Media Foundation, and was uploaded on a file-sharing website on September 2, 2014. In the video, Sotloff describes himself as “paying the price” for the U.S. intervention in Iraq with his life, and telling U.S. President Barack Obama: “You've spent billions of U.S. tax payers dollars and we've lost thousands of our troops in our previous fighting against the Islamic State, so where is the people's interest in reigniting this war?” The same masked fighter who appeared in the video with James Wright Foley stands with Sotloff and states:

“I'm back, Obama, and I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State, because of your insistence on continuing your bombings and [unclear] on Mosul Dam, despite our serious warnings. You, Obama, have but to gain from your actions but another American citizen. So just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people...

“We take this opportunity to warn those governments that enter this evil alliance of America against the Islamic State to back off and leave our people alone.”

The executioner once again warned that there would be further killings unless U.S. foreign policy changed, and specifically said that Briton David Cawthorne Haines, who was shown after a gruesome picture of the beheaded body of Sotloff.

Briton David Cawthorne Haines as he appears near the end of the American Steven Joel Sotloff beheading video

WARNING: The accompanying video of the IS beheading American Steven Joel Sotloff might contain content that is not suitable for all ages. Proceed only if you are 18 years and older.

"A second message to America"

Following is a transcript of the video:

A Second Message to America

I am Steven Joel Sotloff. I'm sure you know exactly who I am by now and why I am appearing before you.

And now this time for my message:

Obama, your foreign policy of intervention in Iraq was supposed to be for the preservation of American lives and interests, so why is it that I am paying the price of your interference with my life. Am I not an American citizen? You've spent billions of U.S. tax payers dollars and we've lost thousands of our troops in our previous fighting against the Islamic State, so where is the people's interest in reigniting this war?

Form what little I know about foreign policy, I remember a time you could not win an election without promising to bring our troops back home from Iraq and Afghanistan and to close down Guantanamo. Here you are now, Obama, nearing the end of your term, and having achieving none of the above, and deceivingly marching us the American people in the blazing fire.

[Executor]

I'm back, Obama, and I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State, because of your insistence on continuing your bombings and [unclear] on Mosul Dam, despite our serious warnings. You, Obama, have but to gain from your actions but another American citizen. So just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people...

We take this opportunity to warn those governments that enter this evil alliance of America against the Islamic State to back off and leave our people alone.

Steven Sotloff: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

1. Sotloff Is a Nationally Recognized Journalist
Sotloff is a renowned journalist who has worked for TIME Magazine, among others, and been a guest on CNN and Fox News. He apparently filed his last piece for TIME on November 26, 2012. The piece was about “Libya’s New Crisis.”
 
2. He Has Been Missing for 12 Months
He had been missing, believed kidnapped since August 4, when he was taken in Aleppo, Syria. Sotloff, a Miami native, sent his last tweet on August 3, 2013. His second to last tweet was more relevant to conflicts in the region:

3. He’s a UCF Graduate
 According to his LinkedIn page, Sotloff says that he is a graduate of he University of Central Florida. He refers to his job “Traveling Man.” On his Twitter page, Sotloff frequently tweeted about his beloved Miami Heat.


4. Sotloff Was Based in Libya

 His social media posts were largely about the locals and scenery he encountered while working in Libya.

This photo was posted on Steve Sotloff’s Facebook page.

5. The NSC Has Reacted to the Video

On Wednesday, 27 August 2014, Shirley Sotloff called on ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-declared Muslim Caliph, to "grant amnesty" to her 31-year-old son and freelance journalist. (Al Arabiya)

Related:

UPDATED: "He would have gone first, that is who he is": Brave parents of James Foley match their son for dignity and courage [VIDEO's/Pics]

WARNING: Graphic James Wright Foley BEHEADING Video by ISIS Authentic says US officials, Prompts Controversy [VIDEO/Pics]

Full text of the last email the Islamic State sent to the Foley family

BREAKING: Islamic State (IS) Releases Video Showing Beheading of U.S. Journalist Steven Joel Sotloff [ VIDEO's / Pics ] - www.ofINTEREST.net

WARNING: Graphic video content may not be suitable for all ages.

Still pic from the James Wright Foley beheading video showing Steven Joel Sotloff being threatened.

BREAKING: Islamic State (IS) Releases Video Showing Beheading of U.S. Journalist Steven Joel Sotloff

Mikhael Love, IIO

U.S. journalist Steven Joel Sotloff; Daily Caller profile pic.

The Islamic State (IS) released a video today, 02 Sept. 2014, purporting to show the beheading of American hostage Steven Joel Sotloff. This seems to of raised the stakes in its confrontation with Washington over U.S. air strikes on its fighters in Iraq.

The Sotloff family was aware of the video Tuesday and was grieving, a family spokesman told the Associated Press.

American journalist Steven Sotloff (center with black helmet) talks to Libyan rebels on the Al Dafniya front line in June 2011 in Misrata, Libya.

The video is similar to the one James Wright Foley was beheaded in and ends with threatening another captive, a Briton, David Cawthorne Haines. (at the end of the accompanying video )

In Washington, the White House said it could not immediately confirm that Islamic State had released a video of Sotloff's beheading.

“We have seen a video that purports to be the murder of U.S. citizen Steven Sotloff by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The intelligence community is working as quickly as possible to determine its authenticity," National Security Council spokesperson Bernadette Meehan said in a statement.

"If genuine, we are appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American journalist and we express our deepest condolences to his family and friends.  We will provide more information when it is available.”

The United States is taking the Islamic State insurgents far more seriously now than it did six months ago, when Obama told the New Yorker magazine that they were the "JV team," which is short for "junior varsity" and means they are not the best players on the field.

On Aug. 24, al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front militants in Syria freed an American writer, Peter Theo Curtis, who had been missing since 2012, following what officials said were efforts by the Gulf Arab state of Qatar to secure his release.

The authenticity of the video, which took an unusually long time to reach ISIS forums, often the first sources for such videos, has yet to be confirmed. The video was titled “A second message to America,” and again started with footage of oratory from U.S. President Barack Obama, before cutting to a scripted anti-US monologue delivered by an emotionless Sotloff, draped in orange clothing (reminiscent of Guantanamo inmates) and on his knees in another arid hilltop landscape beside his executioner.

It appears from chatter on ISIS forums that the initial video release was an unintentional leak from within ISIS circles. An ISIS-affiliated twitter account (now suspended) published the video ahead of the prescribed time. Another ISIS-affiliated account, @Khattabyaz pulled them up on their error, but at that point it was too late, and the video was in circulation. The group then apologised to its followers for the lack of discipline in a text missive on Justpaste, saying:

“A clarification about the mistake was made by “Uyun al-Ummah” account, that has published the video before the official time.

The user saw a tweet with the video and thought it was published officially. We tried to remove the video after we understood that his was published by mistake, and we are sorry to the followers of the Islamic State.”
 

The accompanying 2 minute, 46 second video was produced by the group’s al-Furqan Media Foundation, and was uploaded on a file-sharing website on September 2, 2014. In the video, Sotloff describes himself as “paying the price” for the U.S. intervention in Iraq with his life, and telling U.S. President Barack Obama: “You've spent billions of U.S. tax payers dollars and we've lost thousands of our troops in our previous fighting against the Islamic State, so where is the people's interest in reigniting this war?” The same masked fighter who appeared in the video with James Wright Foley stands with Sotloff and states:

“I'm back, Obama, and I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State, because of your insistence on continuing your bombings and [unclear] on Mosul Dam, despite our serious warnings. You, Obama, have but to gain from your actions but another American citizen. So just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people...

“We take this opportunity to warn those governments that enter this evil alliance of America against the Islamic State to back off and leave our people alone.”

The executioner once again warned that there would be further killings unless U.S. foreign policy changed, and specifically said that Briton David Cawthorne Haines, who was shown after a gruesome picture of the beheaded body of Sotloff.

Briton David Cawthorne Haines as he appears near the end of the American Steven Joel Sotloff beheading video

WARNING: The accompanying video of the IS beheading American Steven Joel Sotloff might contain content that is not suitable for all ages. Proceed only if you are 18 years and older.

"A second message to America"

Following is a transcript of the video:

A Second Message to America

I am Steven Joel Sotloff. I'm sure you know exactly who I am by now and why I am appearing before you.

And now this time for my message:

Obama, your foreign policy of intervention in Iraq was supposed to be for the preservation of American lives and interests, so why is it that I am paying the price of your interference with my life. Am I not an American citizen? You've spent billions of U.S. tax payers dollars and we've lost thousands of our troops in our previous fighting against the Islamic State, so where is the people's interest in reigniting this war?

Form what little I know about foreign policy, I remember a time you could not win an election without promising to bring our troops back home from Iraq and Afghanistan and to close down Guantanamo. Here you are now, Obama, nearing the end of your term, and having achieving none of the above, and deceivingly marching us the American people in the blazing fire.

[Executor]

I'm back, Obama, and I'm back because of your arrogant foreign policy towards the Islamic State, because of your insistence on continuing your bombings and [unclear] on Mosul Dam, despite our serious warnings. You, Obama, have but to gain from your actions but another American citizen. So just as your missiles continue to strike our people, our knife will continue to strike the necks of your people...

We take this opportunity to warn those governments that enter this evil alliance of America against the Islamic State to back off and leave our people alone.

Steven Sotloff: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

1. Sotloff Is a Nationally Recognized Journalist
Sotloff is a renowned journalist who has worked for TIME Magazine, among others, and been a guest on CNN and Fox News. He apparently filed his last piece for TIME on November 26, 2012. The piece was about “Libya’s New Crisis.”
 
2. He Has Been Missing for 12 Months
He had been missing, believed kidnapped since August 4, when he was taken in Aleppo, Syria. Sotloff, a Miami native, sent his last tweet on August 3, 2013. His second to last tweet was more relevant to conflicts in the region:

3. He’s a UCF Graduate
 According to his LinkedIn page, Sotloff says that he is a graduate of he University of Central Florida. He refers to his job “Traveling Man.” On his Twitter page, Sotloff frequently tweeted about his beloved Miami Heat.


4. Sotloff Was Based in Libya

 His social media posts were largely about the locals and scenery he encountered while working in Libya.

This photo was posted on Steve Sotloff’s Facebook page.

5. The NSC Has Reacted to the Video

On Wednesday, 27 August 2014, Shirley Sotloff called on ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-declared Muslim Caliph, to "grant amnesty" to her 31-year-old son and freelance journalist. (Al Arabiya)

Related:

UPDATED: "He would have gone first, that is who he is": Brave parents of James Foley match their son for dignity and courage [VIDEO's/Pics]

WARNING: Graphic James Wright Foley BEHEADING Video by ISIS Authentic says US officials, Prompts Controversy [VIDEO/Pics]

Full text of the last email the Islamic State sent to the Foley family

Three teens admit beating two homeless men to death with bricks in sickening attack after attacking DOZENS of other transients [VIDEO/Pics] - wwwofINTEREST.net

3 teens held in Albuquerque homeless killings

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Three teenagers ganged up on two homeless men and fatally beat them before leaving their bodies nearly unrecognizable, Albuquerque police said Sunday. (read more)

Three teens admit beating two homeless men to death with bricks in sickening attack after attacking DOZENS of other transients [VIDEO/Pics] - wwwofINTEREST.net

3 teens held in Albuquerque homeless killings

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Three teenagers ganged up on two homeless men and fatally beat them before leaving their bodies nearly unrecognizable, Albuquerque police said Sunday. (read more)

Oleg Topalov, 33 (Person of INTEREST): Accused of Weapons Trafficking and Murder, Escapes; Now Caught (Photos) - www.ofINTEREST.net

Oleg Topalov, 33   20:37 07/05/2013 © Photo Federal Prison Service

Oleg Topalov, 33 (Person of INTEREST): Accused of Weapons Trafficking and Murder, Escapes; Now Caught (Photos)

Matrosskaya Tishina detention complex in Northern Moscow where Oleg Topalov escaped

Articles related to Mr. Oleg Topalov vary as far as having already been convicted and awaiting trial, as well as, some articles put his age at 32, while others list it as 33.

What they do all seem to agree on is that he did escape and is now back in custody.

Here are some of the articles with no special preference given. You Decide!

Information listed below is with the most recent first.

Michael Love, IIO

Via

Russia captures jailbreak inmate after 2 days on run

AFP
May 10, 2013, 12:32 am TWN

MOSCOW--Russian police on Wednesday captured a prisoner charged with double murder whose daring escape from a formidable Moscow prison after apparently using a spoon to prise open his cell ceiling led to a massive two-day manhunt. 

Police captured Oleg Topalov, 33, in Izmailovsky park in northeastern Moscow, the city prison service said. He was limping after apparently hurting his leg in the escape, a police spokesman told Channel One television.

Topalov escaped from his cell in Moscow's Matrosskaya Tishina jail early Tuesday by making a hole in the ceiling, possibly using his prison-issue spoon, and then crawling through a ventilation shaft onto the roof.

From there he managed to scale the prison fence using sheets tied together, officials said.

The police and prison authorities released his photograph and description in an intensive search that included the use of sniffer dogs.

Via

8 May, 19:09

Oleg Topalov who escaped from Matrosskaya Tishina detention facility has been caught - police

A suspected double murderer who escaped from a Moscow detention center on Tuesday was caught by police on Wednesday, the Moscow city police authority said.

Oleg Topalov was detained by two policemen in Izmailovo Park in northwestern Moscow, a spokesman for the authority said. The officers had a dog with them.

"The man didn't try to run away as he had a leg injury," the spokesman said. Topalov broke out of the Matrosskaya Tishina jail by making a hole in the ceiling of his cell with a spoon.

He climbed out onto the roof of his block, moved over to the roof of a neighboring block, came down to the ground by using a rope and blanket, and ran out through the premises of a nearby psychiatric hospital.

All regional police units were alerted. Topalov, who is accused of weapons trafficking as well as two murders, was taken into custody under an order by a Moscow court on October 17, 2011.

A law enforcement source said he was a hitman in a crime ring in the Rostov region.

Matrosskaya Tishina personnel are likely to face punishment under proceedings launched by the Russian Investigative Committee and the city police authority.

Voice of Russia, Interfax

Via

Russian Jailbreaker’s Mother Begs Police Not to Kill Son

Oleg Topalov

12:08 08/05/2013 © Photo Federal Prison Service

MOSCOW, May 8 (RIA Novosti) – The mother of a prisoner who made a daring escape from a maximum-security detention facility in Moscow has asked police not to open fire at her son during any attempt to apprehend him.

“I do not want [police] to fire a bullet into his head!,” Yekaterina Topalova told Russia's online Life News tabloid, in a filmed interview. “He turned himself to police before his arrest. We do not believe he is guilty and we want to prove this to everyone. We want more time for this!”

Oleg Topalov, 33, a murder suspect linked to a slain Russian mafia overlord, broke out of the Matrosskaya Tishina pretrial detention facility in east Moscow on Tuesday. He made a hole in the ceiling and escaped through an air vent, the Federal Prison Service said.

"The inmate climbed to the building’s roof through a dormer window and then using a blanket and a rope reached the territory of the Gilyarovsky psychiatric hospital and disappeared," a police source said.

Media reports said he had used a spoon to burrow through the ceiling – a task that would have taken him at least a week – and then walked across the premises, climbing over the outer wall using a rope made of bedsheets.

“As the building was rundown, it was no trouble for Topalov to enlarge the breach of the air shaft through which he got out to the roof. Using a rope made of bedsheets, he got across the building’s wall, jumped through a fence and ran away,” a spokesperson for the Federal Penitentiary Service said.

Topalov was sharing the cell with seven other inmates, but none of them chose to either follow him or raise the alarm, the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily said.

City police were on full alert for Topalov, and a check had been opened into prison guards who may have been involved in the jailbreak.

The Sochi native was arrested in 2011 on murder charges.

Matrosskaya Tishina, which opened in 1945, has hosted a number of prominent inmates, including former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who spent months here and was transferred to another facility shortly before his prison death in 2009.

Only two successful jailbreaks have previously been reported from Matrosskaya Tishina, both by alleged murderers. One of them was alleged mafia hitman Alexander Solonik in 1995.

Via

Inmate accused of double murder escapes from high security Russian jail by digging through his cell's ceiling using a SPOON

• Oleg Topalov, 32, escape from Moscow's infamous Matrosskaya Tishina jail
• Used spoon to expand the ventilation vent and made a rope from sheets
• Topalov was due to stand trial for murder and possessing illegal firearms
• He is the first person to escape from a Moscow prison in 12 years

By Sara Malm

PUBLISHED: 03:52 EST, 8 May 2013 | UPDATED: 06:26 EST, 8 May 2013

A man due to stand trial for murder has escaped one of Russia’s most notorious prisons using a spoon and his bed sheets.

Oleg Topalov, 32, accused of two counts of murder and illegal possession of firearms, broke out of maximum-security Matrosskaya Tishina jail in the early hours of Tuesday.

Topalov, described as ‘mentally abnormal’ by prison staff, used a tablespoon to carve a hole into the ceiling of his cell at the Moscow prison and escaped through the ventilation vent, investigators said today.

Daring escape: Oleg Topalov, due to stand trial for two counts of murder, escaped from the maximum security unit using a spoon and some bedsheets

Topalov is the fourth man in 20 years to escape from the infamous prison, and the first to break out of a detention centre in the Russian capital in 12 years.

Guards at Matrosskaya Tishina discovered that Topalov was missing from the eight-person cell  around 5am Tuesday morning.

"It was established that Oleg Topalov used a spoon to scrape away the cement and brickwork from the wall of the ventilation shaft in his cell," an investigator told Interfax.

Matrosskaya Tishina opened in 1918 and although it has a reputation as one of the worst prisons in Russia, it is in desperate need of building maintenance, something which authorities say made it easy for Topalov to dig himself out.

High security: Topalov is the fourth man in 20 years to escape from the infamous Matrosskaya Tishina prison, located in northern Moscow

 "Because of the building being run-down, Topalov had no difficulty in widening the vent of the air-shaft, through which he got to the prison’s roof," Russian Federal Penitentiary Service representative Kristina Belousova told RIA Novosti.

The escapee then jumped from the building’s roof into a neighbouring block before lowering himself to the ground using a rope he made from bed sheets.

Moscow police have mobilised an extensive search, offering a ‘large reward’ for information which could lead to the capture of Topalov, from Sochi near the Georgian border.

Topalov was due to appear in court accused of two counts of murder and illegal possession of firearms, and had been held on remand at Matrosskaya Tishina for a year-and-a-half before his escape.

Via

Suspected Russian Mafia Hitman Flees Magnitsky's Prison

 Oleg Topalov

 20:37 07/05/2013 © Photo Federal Prison Service

MOSCOW, May 7 (RIA Novosti) – A murder suspect linked to a slain Russian mafia overlord broke out of the Matrosskaya Tishina pretrial detention facility in eastern Moscow on Tuesday.

Oleg Topalov, 33, made a hole in the ceiling and escaped through an air vent, Federal Prison Service representatives told RIA Novosti.

Media reports said he had used a spoon to burrow through the ceiling – a task that would have taken him at least a week – and then walked across the premises, climbing over the outer wall using a rope made of bedsheets.

Topalov was sharing the cell with seven other inmates, but none of them chose to either follow him or raise the alarm, Komsomolskaya Pravda daily said.

City police were on full alert for Topalov, and a check had been opened into prison guards who may have been involved in the jailbreak.

The Sochi native was arrested in 2011 on murder charges. Police sources cited by Lifenews.ru tabloid claimed Topalov was a hitman working for Aslan “Gramps Khasan” Usoyan, a notorious “thief-in-law” – the Russian equivalent of a mafia don – who was killed in January in a shooting blamed on a turf war in the Russian underworld.

Matrosskaya Tishina, which opened in 1945, has hosted a number of prominent inmates, including former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who spent months here and was transferred to another facility shortly before his prison death in 2009.

Only two successful jailbreaks have previously been reported from Matrosskaya Tishina, both by alleged murderers. One of them was alleged mafia hitman Alexander Solonik in 1995, who was linked by media to the same Kurgan crime group as Topalov.

Via

Moscow: Man Burrows Out Of Jail "With A Spoon"

Police are hunting for Oleg Topalov, who is accused of double murder, following his daring escape from a maximum security prison.

12:58pm UK, Tuesday 07 May 2013

Oleg Topalov remains on the run. Pic: Federal Prison Supervision Service

A man charged with double murder has escaped from a maximum security jail in Moscow - apparently by digging a hole in the ceiling of his cell with a spoon.

Oleg Topalov, 33, became only the fourth man in two decades to escape from the notorious Matrosskaya Tishina prison after pulling himself through the hole onto the roof and climbing over a perimeter fence.

The only object he could have used to dig the hole was a spoon, a law enforcement source told the Interfax news agency.

Investigators have accused prison staff of a "dishonest or careless attitude to their work that was made use of by the prisoner Topalov."

A prison service spokesman told the RIA Novosti news agency Topalov "escaped through a hole in the cell ceiling that he had made and made his way onto the roof.

"From the roof he escaped over the main fence."

Matrosskaya Tishina prison is where lawyer Sergei Magnitsky died in 2009

Topalov was charged with murdering two people and with arms trafficking.

He had been held on remand since October 2011 and his case was sent to court last month, the Investigative Committee said in a statement.

Reports said Topalov shared a cell with around seven other prisoners.

Matrosskaya Tishina prison is located in northeastern Moscow and was opened in 1946.

It has its own hospital where lawyer Sergei Magnitsky died in 2009 after being transferred from Butyrka jail in a case that sparked international outrage.

Oleg Topalov, 33 (Person of INTEREST): Accused of Weapons Trafficking and Murder, Escapes; Now Caught (Photos) - www.ofINTEREST.net

Oleg Topalov, 33   20:37 07/05/2013 © Photo Federal Prison Service

Oleg Topalov, 33 (Person of INTEREST): Accused of Weapons Trafficking and Murder, Escapes; Now Caught (Photos)

Matrosskaya Tishina detention complex in Northern Moscow where Oleg Topalov escaped

Articles related to Mr. Oleg Topalov vary as far as having already been convicted and awaiting trial, as well as, some articles put his age at 32, while others list it as 33.

What they do all seem to agree on is that he did escape and is now back in custody.

Here are some of the articles with no special preference given. You Decide!

Information listed below is with the most recent first.

Michael Love, IIO

Via

Russia captures jailbreak inmate after 2 days on run

AFP
May 10, 2013, 12:32 am TWN

MOSCOW--Russian police on Wednesday captured a prisoner charged with double murder whose daring escape from a formidable Moscow prison after apparently using a spoon to prise open his cell ceiling led to a massive two-day manhunt. 

Police captured Oleg Topalov, 33, in Izmailovsky park in northeastern Moscow, the city prison service said. He was limping after apparently hurting his leg in the escape, a police spokesman told Channel One television.

Topalov escaped from his cell in Moscow's Matrosskaya Tishina jail early Tuesday by making a hole in the ceiling, possibly using his prison-issue spoon, and then crawling through a ventilation shaft onto the roof.

From there he managed to scale the prison fence using sheets tied together, officials said.

The police and prison authorities released his photograph and description in an intensive search that included the use of sniffer dogs.

Via

8 May, 19:09

Oleg Topalov who escaped from Matrosskaya Tishina detention facility has been caught - police

A suspected double murderer who escaped from a Moscow detention center on Tuesday was caught by police on Wednesday, the Moscow city police authority said.

Oleg Topalov was detained by two policemen in Izmailovo Park in northwestern Moscow, a spokesman for the authority said. The officers had a dog with them.

"The man didn't try to run away as he had a leg injury," the spokesman said. Topalov broke out of the Matrosskaya Tishina jail by making a hole in the ceiling of his cell with a spoon.

He climbed out onto the roof of his block, moved over to the roof of a neighboring block, came down to the ground by using a rope and blanket, and ran out through the premises of a nearby psychiatric hospital.

All regional police units were alerted. Topalov, who is accused of weapons trafficking as well as two murders, was taken into custody under an order by a Moscow court on October 17, 2011.

A law enforcement source said he was a hitman in a crime ring in the Rostov region.

Matrosskaya Tishina personnel are likely to face punishment under proceedings launched by the Russian Investigative Committee and the city police authority.

Voice of Russia, Interfax

Via

Russian Jailbreaker’s Mother Begs Police Not to Kill Son

Oleg Topalov

12:08 08/05/2013 © Photo Federal Prison Service

MOSCOW, May 8 (RIA Novosti) – The mother of a prisoner who made a daring escape from a maximum-security detention facility in Moscow has asked police not to open fire at her son during any attempt to apprehend him.

“I do not want [police] to fire a bullet into his head!,” Yekaterina Topalova told Russia's online Life News tabloid, in a filmed interview. “He turned himself to police before his arrest. We do not believe he is guilty and we want to prove this to everyone. We want more time for this!”

Oleg Topalov, 33, a murder suspect linked to a slain Russian mafia overlord, broke out of the Matrosskaya Tishina pretrial detention facility in east Moscow on Tuesday. He made a hole in the ceiling and escaped through an air vent, the Federal Prison Service said.

"The inmate climbed to the building’s roof through a dormer window and then using a blanket and a rope reached the territory of the Gilyarovsky psychiatric hospital and disappeared," a police source said.

Media reports said he had used a spoon to burrow through the ceiling – a task that would have taken him at least a week – and then walked across the premises, climbing over the outer wall using a rope made of bedsheets.

“As the building was rundown, it was no trouble for Topalov to enlarge the breach of the air shaft through which he got out to the roof. Using a rope made of bedsheets, he got across the building’s wall, jumped through a fence and ran away,” a spokesperson for the Federal Penitentiary Service said.

Topalov was sharing the cell with seven other inmates, but none of them chose to either follow him or raise the alarm, the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily said.

City police were on full alert for Topalov, and a check had been opened into prison guards who may have been involved in the jailbreak.

The Sochi native was arrested in 2011 on murder charges.

Matrosskaya Tishina, which opened in 1945, has hosted a number of prominent inmates, including former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who spent months here and was transferred to another facility shortly before his prison death in 2009.

Only two successful jailbreaks have previously been reported from Matrosskaya Tishina, both by alleged murderers. One of them was alleged mafia hitman Alexander Solonik in 1995.

Via

Inmate accused of double murder escapes from high security Russian jail by digging through his cell's ceiling using a SPOON

• Oleg Topalov, 32, escape from Moscow's infamous Matrosskaya Tishina jail
• Used spoon to expand the ventilation vent and made a rope from sheets
• Topalov was due to stand trial for murder and possessing illegal firearms
• He is the first person to escape from a Moscow prison in 12 years

By Sara Malm

PUBLISHED: 03:52 EST, 8 May 2013 | UPDATED: 06:26 EST, 8 May 2013

A man due to stand trial for murder has escaped one of Russia’s most notorious prisons using a spoon and his bed sheets.

Oleg Topalov, 32, accused of two counts of murder and illegal possession of firearms, broke out of maximum-security Matrosskaya Tishina jail in the early hours of Tuesday.

Topalov, described as ‘mentally abnormal’ by prison staff, used a tablespoon to carve a hole into the ceiling of his cell at the Moscow prison and escaped through the ventilation vent, investigators said today.

Daring escape: Oleg Topalov, due to stand trial for two counts of murder, escaped from the maximum security unit using a spoon and some bedsheets

Topalov is the fourth man in 20 years to escape from the infamous prison, and the first to break out of a detention centre in the Russian capital in 12 years.

Guards at Matrosskaya Tishina discovered that Topalov was missing from the eight-person cell  around 5am Tuesday morning.

"It was established that Oleg Topalov used a spoon to scrape away the cement and brickwork from the wall of the ventilation shaft in his cell," an investigator told Interfax.

Matrosskaya Tishina opened in 1918 and although it has a reputation as one of the worst prisons in Russia, it is in desperate need of building maintenance, something which authorities say made it easy for Topalov to dig himself out.

High security: Topalov is the fourth man in 20 years to escape from the infamous Matrosskaya Tishina prison, located in northern Moscow

 "Because of the building being run-down, Topalov had no difficulty in widening the vent of the air-shaft, through which he got to the prison’s roof," Russian Federal Penitentiary Service representative Kristina Belousova told RIA Novosti.

The escapee then jumped from the building’s roof into a neighbouring block before lowering himself to the ground using a rope he made from bed sheets.

Moscow police have mobilised an extensive search, offering a ‘large reward’ for information which could lead to the capture of Topalov, from Sochi near the Georgian border.

Topalov was due to appear in court accused of two counts of murder and illegal possession of firearms, and had been held on remand at Matrosskaya Tishina for a year-and-a-half before his escape.

Via

Suspected Russian Mafia Hitman Flees Magnitsky's Prison

 Oleg Topalov

 20:37 07/05/2013 © Photo Federal Prison Service

MOSCOW, May 7 (RIA Novosti) – A murder suspect linked to a slain Russian mafia overlord broke out of the Matrosskaya Tishina pretrial detention facility in eastern Moscow on Tuesday.

Oleg Topalov, 33, made a hole in the ceiling and escaped through an air vent, Federal Prison Service representatives told RIA Novosti.

Media reports said he had used a spoon to burrow through the ceiling – a task that would have taken him at least a week – and then walked across the premises, climbing over the outer wall using a rope made of bedsheets.

Topalov was sharing the cell with seven other inmates, but none of them chose to either follow him or raise the alarm, Komsomolskaya Pravda daily said.

City police were on full alert for Topalov, and a check had been opened into prison guards who may have been involved in the jailbreak.

The Sochi native was arrested in 2011 on murder charges. Police sources cited by Lifenews.ru tabloid claimed Topalov was a hitman working for Aslan “Gramps Khasan” Usoyan, a notorious “thief-in-law” – the Russian equivalent of a mafia don – who was killed in January in a shooting blamed on a turf war in the Russian underworld.

Matrosskaya Tishina, which opened in 1945, has hosted a number of prominent inmates, including former Yukos head Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Hermitage Capital lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who spent months here and was transferred to another facility shortly before his prison death in 2009.

Only two successful jailbreaks have previously been reported from Matrosskaya Tishina, both by alleged murderers. One of them was alleged mafia hitman Alexander Solonik in 1995, who was linked by media to the same Kurgan crime group as Topalov.

Via

Moscow: Man Burrows Out Of Jail "With A Spoon"

Police are hunting for Oleg Topalov, who is accused of double murder, following his daring escape from a maximum security prison.

12:58pm UK, Tuesday 07 May 2013

Oleg Topalov remains on the run. Pic: Federal Prison Supervision Service

A man charged with double murder has escaped from a maximum security jail in Moscow - apparently by digging a hole in the ceiling of his cell with a spoon.

Oleg Topalov, 33, became only the fourth man in two decades to escape from the notorious Matrosskaya Tishina prison after pulling himself through the hole onto the roof and climbing over a perimeter fence.

The only object he could have used to dig the hole was a spoon, a law enforcement source told the Interfax news agency.

Investigators have accused prison staff of a "dishonest or careless attitude to their work that was made use of by the prisoner Topalov."

A prison service spokesman told the RIA Novosti news agency Topalov "escaped through a hole in the cell ceiling that he had made and made his way onto the roof.

"From the roof he escaped over the main fence."

Matrosskaya Tishina prison is where lawyer Sergei Magnitsky died in 2009

Topalov was charged with murdering two people and with arms trafficking.

He had been held on remand since October 2011 and his case was sent to court last month, the Investigative Committee said in a statement.

Reports said Topalov shared a cell with around seven other prisoners.

Matrosskaya Tishina prison is located in northeastern Moscow and was opened in 1946.

It has its own hospital where lawyer Sergei Magnitsky died in 2009 after being transferred from Butyrka jail in a case that sparked international outrage.