Vitaly Kaloyev
| Vitaly Kaloyev | |
|---|---|
| Born |
15 January 1956 Vladikavkaz, Russia |
| Nationality | Ossetian |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Criminal charge | Murder |
| Criminal penalty | 8-year sentence, but served only three years |
| Criminal status | Released on 8 November 2007 |
| Spouse(s) | Svetlana Kaloyeva (1958–2002) |
| Children | Konstantin Kaloyev (1991–2002) Diana Kaloyeva (1998–2002) |
| Conviction(s) | Murder |
| Killings | |
| Victims | Peter Nielsen |
| Date | 24 February 2004 |
Vitaly Konstantinovich Kaloyev (Russian: Виталий Константинович Калоев, born 15 January 1956) is a convicted murderer, former architect and has become a deputy minister of construction of North Ossetia–Alania following his prison release. His family died aboard Bashkirian Airlines Flight 2937, which collided with DHL Flight 611 over Überlingen, Germany on 1 July 2002.
Peter Nielsen, an air traffic controller handling traffic when the collision occurred, was guilty for the main responsibility in the inquest that followed by Germany and had retired from air traffic work afterwards. However, Kaloyev held Nielsen responsible, and in 2004 he travelled to the Swiss town of Kloten and stabbed him to death.
Vitaly Kaloyev lost his wife Svetlana Kaloyeva (Russian: Светлана Калоева) and two children, 10-year-old Konstantin (Russian: Константин) and 4-year-old Diana (Russian: Диана) in the Überlingen mid-air collision two years earlier.
Yuri Kaloyev, the brother of Vitaly Kaloyev, reported that the man suffered a nervous breakdown following the loss of his family. Vitaly Kaloyev participated in the search for the bodies and located a broken pearl necklace owned by his daughter, Diana. He also found her body, which was intact as the trees had broken her fall. Svetlana's body landed in a corn field, and Konstantin's body hit asphalt in front of an Überlingen bus shelter.
Kaloyev spent the first year after the accident lingering at the graves of his family and building a shrine to them in his home. At the memorial service for the first anniversary of the tragedy, he asked the head of Skyguide about the possibility of meeting the controller who had been responsible for the disaster, but received no response. Kaloyev then hired a Moscow private investigator to find Nielsen's address outside Zürich, before travelling to the former air traffic controller's home in Kloten.
On the afternoon of February 24, he set off for Nielsen's house. A neighbour spotted Kaloyev and asked what he wanted. He waved a piece of paper with Nielsen's name on it. The neighbour pointed to Nielsen's front door, but instead of knocking, Kaloyev sat down in the garden.
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