​Pianist's estranged wife charged with killing 2 daughters

[tabasco]

Source: CBS News

DALLAS -- Texas police say they've arrested the estranged wife of an internationally renowned pianist on capital murder charges in the deaths of the couple's two young children.

Benbrook Police Cmdr. David Babcock said Monday that police have served an arrest warrant on Sofya Tsygankova, the wife of the Ukranian pianist Vadym Kholodenko.

Police found the couple's two children, 5-year-old Nika Kholodenko and 1-year-old Michela Kholodenko, slain in their beds Thursday in Benbrook, a suburb of Fort Worth. Authorities said Tsygankova was in an "extreme state of distress."

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sofya-tsygankova-pianists-estranged-wife-charged-with-killing-2-daughters/

[rocktivity]

1. Schizophrenia? Post-Partum Psychosis?

Last edited Mon Mar 21, 2016, 09:22 PM - Edit history (1)

The Ukranian-born Kholodenko won the 2013 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in Fort Worth. He said police had spoken to him about remaining in the area during the investigation.

(A) neighbor (said) that Tsygankova, also a pianist, spent a lot of time parenting alone. "She was a stay at home mom with two children. Her husband was gone a lot... seemed to travel. She was very lovely. She...spoke Russian to the children a lot..."

Buyer's remorse for giving up her own possible career? Traded in for a younger model? Custody? Revenge?


rocktivity

[valerief]

2. I wonder if she was religious. nt

[rocktivity]

3. Andrea Yates was.

http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/bayarea/crime-courts/article/Andrea-Yates-Rusty-Yates-5567726.php


rocktivity

[tammywammy]

4. It's horrific news

I'm a subscriber to the FWSO. He was supposed to play last weekend. The article I read earlier said they still don't know the cause of death of the children.

There's a memorial fund that's been set up:

The FWSO family is profoundly saddened by the tragic loss of the daughters of our dear friend and artistic partner, Vadym Kholodenko.

I am writing to share the news that a public memorial service for Nika and Michaela Kholodenko will be held tomorrow, Tuesday, March 22 at 7pm at Arlington United Methodist Church, 4200 Camp Bowie Boulevard.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that contributions be made to the Nika and Michaela Kholodenko Young Artist Fund to be administered by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. Should you wish to make a contribution, there are several ways to do so:

Call the FWSO Development Office at 817.665.6500.

Mail a check made out to the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra c/o Development Office at 330 E. 4th Street, Suite 200, Fort Worth, Texas 76102. Please reference the Kholodenko Fund in the memo line.

Contribute online at www.fwsymphony.org/donatenow. Select Tribute/Memorial Gift, and reference the Kholodenko Fund in the "Reason for Giving" field.

Please join us in sending deepest condolences to Vadym and his family and they grieve this unimaginable loss. Thank you for your support.

[rocktivity]

5. Did he live in Fort Worth, too?

If he traveled a lot, she couldn't have been worried about losing primary custody of the children in the divorce. On the other hand, if she had a history of mental illness she wouldn't have custody of them anyway. But on the other other hand, the only remaining motive is that she was that angry at him. But I think I'd rather believe that she's nuts than to believe that anyone could get that angry. Round and round we go...


rocktivity

[tammywammy]

6. They lived in Benbrook, very close to Fort Worth

He is an artistic partner with the Fort Worth Symphony. I believe I read they moved here in 2014.

[rocktivity]

7. They moved to the US in 2014, she took a job in a church

and they filed for divorce in November, according to this story with video:

http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/tarrant-county/pianist-vadym-kholodenkos-family-captured-on-video-before-tragedy-struck/89294228


rocktivity

[rocktivity]

8. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by Heavy.com

...Tsygankova, 31...had visited a Mental Health and Retardation Facility in Fort Worth...just one day before her daughters...were discovered murdered...(She)...remembered that sometime in the night she had a knife, but has no recollection of smothering her children to death. She told police that she remembered taking a lot of pills and also stated that she “didn’t want to live.”

...(H)er biography...says (she)...started studying music at the age of six. At only nine-years-old, she won her first contest. She...won several national and international competitions...(most recently) in 2013...Tsygankova and Kholodenko were married in Ukraine in 2010 when their oldest daughter, Nika, was three...In 2014...She gave in to moving to the United States...in hopes of finding better medical care (for) skin problems (Nika) was having...

In September (2015), Kholodenko filed for divorce. The circumstances behind the filing are not known...Tsygankova wrote that she lost her job at Texas Christian University just two days prior, and her husband has been paying the bills...

(S)he is being held in the medical housing unit of the...Tarrant County...jail after trying to commit suicide. (link)

Talk about a perfect storm -- her entire infrastructure had imploded. No husband, no job, no more financial security of her own, no professional prospects, and possibly some post-partum depression. But did Kholodenko decide to leave her because she was showing signs of instability, or because he saw the potential of being young, single, rich and famous in the United States?

Anyway, I was right -- hooray for me.


rocktivity

[tabasco]

9. And now no daughters. n/t