Fugitve Remembered as Violent, Abrupt

Aug. 23, 2001 -- Nikolay Soltys, the Ukrainian immigrant suspected of slaughtering his pregnant wife, 3-year-old son and four other relatives, was "abrupt" and sometimes violent before he went to the United States to be with his ailing father, according to a newspaper in his homeland.

The Kiev daily Fakty (Facts), in an interview with Soltys' parents-in-law, seemed to confirm reports that the 27-year-old immigrant had a history of violence, though they denied he had been barred from military service because of mental instability.

Instead, they told the paper, what kept him out of the army was flat feet.

Though Soltys is accused of six horrific slayings, including the killings of his 11-year-old niece, 9-year-old nephew and elderly aunt and uncle, the paper reported that in his hometown of Shumsk it was known that he has a "panicky" fear of firearms. Soltys allegedly stabbed his victims to death.

Incident With an Ax

Igor Nakonechniy, the father of Soltys' wife Lyuba, told the newspaper that one night three years ago Soltys went after the young woman with an ax he kept in a closet "for self-defense."

Lyuba telephoned her parents for help, asking them to come over "so he doesn't kill me," Nakonechniy told the paper. Two of Lyuba's brothers rushed over, he said, but Soltys turned on them with the ax, and the situation only calmed down when the police came, he said.

"We begged our daughter not to marry him," Nakonechniy said. "She always listened and was respectful, but then for the first time in her life she went against her parents, firmly saying, 'We love one another and I am going to live with him.'"

Even before the couple was married, Nakonechniy said Soltys was "abrupt" with other people — using the same word Soltys' mother used to describe how he acted the day of the killings when he arrived to pick up his son.

Soltys' father-in-law also said the young man liked to drive fast and recklessly.

According to Nakonechniy, Soltys came to America in 1998 to be with his father, who was near death, but once he got to the United States he "even tormented his own parents."

Fakty also reported that Soltys' aunt and uncle, 74-year-old Galina Kukharskaya and 75-year-old Petr Kukharskiy, who were found stabbed to death Monday, had planned to return to Ukraine this winter. They wanted to die in their native country, the paper said.