Podnebennyy murder trial begins in Bellefonte

The murder trial of Vladimir Podnebennyy began Friday at the Centre County Courthouse with a flurry of police testimony and physical evidence.

Podnebennyy, 64, is charged in the stabbing death of his wife, Natalya Podnebennaya, in October 2015. The court is seeking verdicts on charges of first-degree murder, third-degree murder, aggravated assault and possession of an instrument of crime.

Podnebennyy speaks Russian, so two interpreters were in the courtroom Friday to translate attorney questions and witness testimony.

Early-morning discussions between Centre County District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller and defense attorney Karen Muir regarding evidence that could possibly be construed as hearsay took an unexpected turn when President Judge Thomas King Kistler informed both attorneys he would be instructing the jury to accept three elements of the trial — that Natalya Podnebennaya was dead, that Vladimir Podnebennyy killed her and that he did it with intent.

Parks Miller later said the District Attorney’s Office was uncomfortable with that judgment, fearing it would not allow Muir to properly defend her client and may not stand up to later review.

Tasked now with proving malicious intent in the case, Parks Miller began her opening argument by pointing out to the jury that Podnebennyy lured his wife to the parking lot near their home by claiming he needed a jump start to his car where he eventually stabbed her to death. He did this, Parks Miller said, because she had left him, intending to end the marriage.

“He believed she deserved to die,” Parks Miller said. “Why? Because after 40 years of marriage, she dared to dream. She dared to leave him.”

Muir’s opening argument didn’t dispute the case, saying Podnebennyy did stab his wife because of perceived insults. She told the jury she believed they would make the determination that he did kill his wife, but that he should not be found guilty of first-degree murder.

Under Pennsylvania law, first-degree murder generally requires express of malice, or a conscious intent of doing harm. Third-degree murder is defined as all other kinds of murder and is not necessarily planned or intentional.

The jury spent the morning hearing testimony from a majority of the first responders to the scene of the stabbing, including Lt. Barrett Smith, who was at the State College police station when a frantic call came through at the front desk alerting police to the incident. According to Smith’s testimony, a woman, who identified herself as Podnebennyy’s daughter, said that her father had stabbed her mother.

Smith said he immediately dispatched officers to the address associated with the caller ID, along the 400 block of Gerald Street in College Township.

The first officer on the scene, State College police Officer Michael Pieniazek, testified that when he arrived on the scene, he was waved down by Podnebennyy, but was unable to understand what he was saying due to the language barrier. Podnebennyy handed off a phone to him, and Pieniazek noted blood on the cuff of his sweatshirt.

The woman on the phone, identified by Pieniazek as Podnebennyy’s daughter, Olga Igolnikov, told him her father had stabbed her mother, he said. He then proceeded to take Podnebennyy into custody, handcuffing him.

The second officer on the scene, State College police Officer Mark Rhodes, testified that he discovered Natalya Podnebennaya in her car and alerted EMS personnel to her location. Both officers testified that a knife could be seen sticking out of the upper-left side of her chest.

The jury was presented with several police dashcam videos depicting the officer’s initial arrivals at the Gerald Street address and interactions with Podnebennyy. Jurors were also presented with photographic evidence of Natalya Podnebennaya’s car and Podnebennaya herself showing the wounds to her chest and what the district attorney said were defense wounds to her hands.

Jurors were also presented with the knife used in the stabbing — a kitchen knife with a 5-inch blade Podnebennyy said his wife kept in her car to cut apples.

State College police Detective Chris Weaver testified to his interview with Podnebennyy later that same day. Because of language issues, police used a local individual, identified as Sasha, to translate for them during the interview.

According to the translated transcript of the interview, Weaver read that Podnebennyy was “not repentant” for what he had done, that he had told his wife he was having car troubles in order to draw her to the house and persuade her to come back to him.

Podnebennyy said he opened the hood of her car so she couldn’t leave, Weaver read. He also admitted to having “intercepted” the knife from his wife, and when he “hit her” with it the first time, she tried to grab it.

After striking her a second time, she didn’t do anything else, Weaver read.

The trial is set for a total of six days and will resume Monday.

This story was originally published September 23, 2016 at 10:26 PM with the headline "Podnebennyy murder trial begins in Bellefonte."