Man axed to death during ritual after turning to black magic to save marriage

Anton Shabanov was hacked to death by convicted fraudster Nikolay Ivanov when he enlisted his help to get his wife back after only separating just one year after their wedding in Russia

A bridegroom has been killed with an axe after an occult ritual ended in a violent argument.

Anton Shabanov, 33, an engineer, had turned to black magic to fix his failed marriage after his wife, Lyubov, 29, left him only one year after their initial wedding, reports the Russian Investigative Committee.

The newlywed had split and lived separately which caused much upset for Anton.

Shockingly he went to convicted fraudster Nikolay Ivanov, 32, to perform a ritual involving burying the possessions of the couple in a nearby forest.

As the ritual commenced, Ivanov ridiculed the other man as well as insulting his estranged wife, a court heard.

A fight between Ivanov and Anton had begun when Ivanov grabbed an axe and killed the groom, striking him in the head and neck.

He later fled the scene of the crime, leaving the dead body covered in branches.

He was later detained by police and confessed to the killing of Anton.

A court jailed Ivanov for nine and a half years and was ordered to pay £20,700 in damages.

A friend of the deceased, Anton, was shocked to hear he had turned to black magic.

He said: “They did not divorce but had been living separately.

“Naturally he was upset, but I cannot imagine he would be involved in rites to bring her back.”

But the Russian Investigative Committee. stated: “The court established that a local resident, wishing to restore relations with his wife, decided to resort to an occult ritual.

“To perform the ceremony, he needed to bury their personal belongings in a deserted place outside the city.”

The statement said that “while digging a pit (Ivanov) spoke negatively about this ceremony and the victim’s wife, as a result of which a quarrel arose between the men”.

This is what resulted in the fight escalating, which ultimately lead to the death of the Astrakhan resident, Anton, after being struck multiple times by Ivanov with an axe.

The Privolzhsky District Court in Astrakhan sentenced the murderer to a “strict regime” penal colony.