Dmitriy Kanarikov: Father Threw Toddler From High Rise Roof Out Of Spite, Mother Says
From the archive: published Dec 25, 2013, 12 years ago. Details may have changed since.
Dmitriy Kanarikov threw his 3-year-old son to death from a New York City high-rise just to spite his ex-wife, the child’s heartbroken mother says.
Police said on Sunday Kanarikov picked up his toddler son Kirill from a police precinct for a scheduled visit. Dmitriy had told his parents that he was taking the boy to Grand Central Station, but instead walked to the roof of a building on the Upper West Side and threw the toddler from the roof, then jumped himself.
Dmitriy Kanarikov died on impact, while the 3-year-old was taken to a nearby hospital and later declared dead.
Police were not sure why Kanarikov selected the building, but believe he may have had a friend who lived there and knew of the roof. Security tapes showed Dmitriy taking Kirill into the lobby without being stopped by a doorman.
“Tragically, he took the son to the roof and all indications are that he threw him off and… jumped himself,” New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters. “The mother, obviously, is very distraught.”
In a statement after the murder-suicide, the boy’s mother, Svetlana Kanarikov, said her husband killed their son purely out of spite.
“When we first separated, Dmitriy told me that he would leave me alone only if I left him everything we had together,” she said. “Money and assets were most important to him. “Otherwise, he said, he would take the child away and I will ‘shoot myself from grief.'”
A source in law enforcement confirmed that Dmitriy Kanarikov had warned that he would harm the 3-year-old boy, telling his ex-wife: “If I can’t have him, then you can’t.”
But because the man never acted violently toward the child, Svetlana said there was nothing she could do to stop the court-ordered visits.
“Kirill was a very sweet, wonderful child, who was loved very much,” his mother said. “He will forever live on in my heart.”
Dmitriy Kanarikov threw his 3-year-old son from the roof of the high-rise just four days before Christmas. Witnesses say the toddler was wearing Christmas pajamas when he fell to his death.
