Anastasia King, who was from Kyrgyzstan and went to the United States as a mail-order bride, went missing. Her mother called the police and asked for a welfare check.
But as the investigation progressed, a dark truth came to light and the police soon found out that Anastasia had died in a frightening way. Grave Mysteries: Hidden Truths on Investigation Discovery tells the story of the horrifying murder and how the police were able to find out who it was. Let’s learn more about this case and find out where Anastasia’s killer is right now, shall we?
How did Anastasia King die?
Anastasia King is from Kyrgyzstan. She met her husband, Indle Gifford King Jr., in 1998 when she was 18 years old. They met through a dating service abroad, and Anastasia’s parents were happy to find a good partner for her. As a person, Indle was doing pretty well. He ran a rental business and made a good monthly income from it. He also had an MBA from the University of Chicago, which made him a pretty good bachelor. Anastasia, who was said to be a kind and cheerful teenager, was happy to start a new life in a new country.
But Anastasia had no idea that the United States was full of terrible things. When she and Indle came to the United States, they moved into their home in Snohomish County, Washington, where they hoped to have a great life. But when the couple went to Anastasia’s parents in September 2000, things turned bad. Anastasia and Indle returned to Washington State on September 21, 2000, but the Kyrgyz native’s mother was unable to contact her for a while, so police began searching for them.
Afterwards, Indle Gifford said his wife allegedly left him before returning to Washington state. But when official records showed that Indle and Anastasia had entered the state together, authorities knew there was another side to the story. Despite this, it took police several months to locate Anastasia’s body in a makeshift grave at a dump near Marysville. Although the victim was naked, an autopsy revealed she had been strangled to death and police saw bruises all over her body.
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Who Killed Anastasia King?
At first, it was difficult for the police to find out what happened to Anastasia King as they had no leads or eyewitnesses. From the outside, her marriage to Indle seemed fine, but Anastasia was also a student at the University of Washington and well liked by her friends. But despite police searching the area and speaking to some of their friends more than once, they couldn’t think of any obvious suspects.
But things changed when the police read Anastasia’s diary and found out that her husband had often sexually assaulted and threatened her. Indle would abuse her if he thought she would disobey him. He would take her money and threaten to turn her away, but he would also hurt her. Police also found that Indle had previously divorced a mail-order bride, which had cost him about $55,000.
People who knew Indle said he didn’t want Anastasia to treat him the same way. But because of the way he treated her, Anastasia kept withdrawing from her husband, which led to constant quarrels. Although Indle initially told police she had left him before returning to her home in Washington state, official records showed he was lying. But since Indle didn’t want to tell the police much, they decided to investigate Daniel Larson, who lived with and was friends with Indle.
Daniel was in prison for a crime unrelated to Anastasia’s disappearance when the police asked him about it. Daniel was a registered sex offender. At first he said he was not guilty, but he soon admitted he choked her to death while Indle sat on her chest to knock her unconscious. He also showed the police officers where he and Indle had buried Anastasia’s body. With a body and a statement pointing the finger at Indle King, police arrested him and charged him with murder.
What happened to Indle Gifford King Jr?
Daniel Larson pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in court. He also agreed to testify against Indle King in exchange for a lighter sentence. For this reason he was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2002, which was later increased to 28 years. On the other hand, Indle King said he was not guilty and appeared ready to face a jury at his trial. Although Daniel was a tough witness who often contradicted himself, prosecutors soon discovered that Indle had tried to get several people, including his friend, to lie for him in order to win the case.
Most of these people testified against Indle, and when Indle himself testified, the jury was sure he was guilty. In 2002, Indle King was found guilty of first-degree murder and witness tampering. He was sentenced to 28 years and 11 months in prison. As a result, Indle is still incarcerated at Stafford Creek Corrections Center in Aberdeen, Washington. He’s still not eligible for parole, so he can’t get out.
Anastasia was born in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, a poor city in the former Soviet bloc, to two poor music teachers. She was her only child. As a young child, she told adults poems and fairy tales she had memorized. Anastasia also appeared to have inherited her parents’ musical abilities, and she showed promise as a classical pianist.
She was a beautiful young woman about to start a new life. She had the looks of a model and the personality of a young adult. Anastasia wanted to travel the world, especially to the United States. With the help of her parents, Anastasia met some people in the modeling industry and started browsing catalogs for people she had met before.
It wasn’t long before she started writing to an American. He courted the family by writing to them and visiting them. After a brief courtship and a few meetings in Kyrgyzstan, the couple married when they returned to Seattle.
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Anastasia told her parents in her first letters home how much she liked life in the United States. But after about a year of marriage, the police were called to the king’s house because of a dispute between family members. Anastasia showed the police officers scratches on her chest and stomach that her husband had inflicted on her.
In her diary Anastasia wrote about how her husband hurt her and scared her to leave him because he said he would kill her if she did. Anastasia decided to return to her native country to stay with her parents for a long time. Soon after, her husband caught up with her and took her back to Seattle. The last time anyone saw Anastasia was back then.
When they couldn’t reach their beloved daughter by phone, her parents went berserk. Her husband told everyone that Anastasia did not come back to Seattle with him because she left him behind when changing trains in Moscow. Her parents went to Moscow to look for their only child, but they could not find her. They searched every hospital and morgue, but to no avail. Mountlake Terrace police received a missing person report, and they soon thought they were investigating a homicide. In December 2000, Anastasia’s body was found strangled and buried in a shallow grave in Washington. That was the worst that could be feared. Her husband and another person were caught for killing someone.
When Anastasia’s parents came to Seattle to help find her, her family and friends got together to help. They also gave emergency money to help people pay for shelter, food, transportation, and clothing. The most important thing was to find an interpreter who could help people speak. While they awaited the two trials of the men who killed Anastasia, their victims’ attorney helped them deal with the problems that arose. Families and friends helped with immigration, assisted in court, and spoke to the media. After the trials, jurors called families and friends to share what they heard and saw during the trials.
After Anastasia was killed, Washington state lawmakers passed legislation to screen potential suitors in the “mail order bride business.” Maria Cantwell, a US Senator, brought Anastasia’s story to Washington, DC, and was able to enforce a law there. With the help of her family and friends’ lawyer, Anastasia’s parents testified in court. Though nothing can bring Anastasia back, these new laws could protect another young woman from what killed her.
But the daughter’s body has not yet been buried, and prosecutors now say her American husband strangled her with the help of his male lover. Perhaps the most surprising thing is that the older Solovyovs still love the country that killed their daughter. They love the United States so much that they want to become citizens themselves.
At first, Anastasia Solovyova King was the only one who thought about moving to the United States. She was the daughter of two music teachers from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. She was good at piano and choir, and she also studied English diligently, babysat for an American diplomat in Bishkek, and when she was old enough, she joined a bridal agency, which introduced her to American bachelors.
Despite her success in Kyrgyzstan, it was clear that the 18-year-old Russian thought her life would be better if she left the former Soviet republic for the United States.
When the mail-order bridal agency sent her a short, balding man in his 40s, she and her parents were hopeful of the better qualities of Indle King Jr. He was bright, perceptive, well-dressed, and raved about his life in upper middle class and his family in America. The Solovyov family was sold after a few meetings.
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