A 65-year-old man -- who has been charged with murder, abuse of a corpse and related offenses after his wife's remains were discovered in a closet in their Northeast Philadelphia home last week -- will be held in a New Jersey jail until at least December, a judge ruled on Wednesday.
Vladimir Lushevskiy is facing weapons offenses in New Jersey after he was arrested in Westhampton Township, Burlington County, while he was leaving a motel room and was, allegedly, carrying a loaded handgun at the time.
Keeping Lushevskiy behind bars went against a court recommendation that he could have been released with condition on monthly reporting on those weapons charges, Judge Craig Ambrose said.
However, Ambrose said, Lushevskiy deviated from that recommendation due to the severity of the charges against him in Pennsylvania and the fact that he had fled into New Jersey with a loaded weapon.
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Ambrose said that "no amount of monetary bail, non-monetary conditions or combination of monetary bail and conditions would reasonably assure" that Lushevskiy would appear in court if he was granted release.
The case against Vladimir Lushevskiy
Luschevskiy was arrested after police in Philadelphia named him as a suspect in the death of his wife, 61-year-old Lola Karabaeva, after her body was found in a closet in a home they shared along the 9000 block of Diplomat Place in the Bustleton neighborhood.
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Karabaeva was initially reported missing after she was last seen on Oct. 12, 2024.
On Wednesday, October 16, 2024, detectives investigating the missing person case visited the couple's home. During their search of the property, they discovered the body of Karabaeva wrapped in plastic inside a closet.
She was pronounced dead at the scene at 10:13 a.m., police said.
Police officials said that investigators believe that Lushevskiy killed his wife sometime after she arrived to the couple's home on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024.
Surveillance video from 2:38 a.m. that day shows the woman at the front door and struggling to unlock it for several minutes before the video ends.
Officials said that this was the last time she was seen alive.
Later that morning, surveillance cameras picked up a man who neighbors identified as Lushevskiy outside of the home. He can be seen on camera moving her car.
On Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, the District Attorney's Office said charges were upgraded to homicide, strangulation and tampering with evidence and obstruction.
During a memorial held after Karabaeva's body was discovered in the home, neighbors told NBC10's Brian Sheehan that Oct. 12 had meaning to the couple.
It was the birthday of their son who had died several years ago, neighbors said.
Asked if this detail may have any impact on this case, police officials said Wednesday that they could provide no new information on this investigation.
Lushevskiy remains in custody in New Jersey. He will next appear in court on Dec. 14, 2024, when he has a pre-extradition hearing scheduled.
No attorney is listed for the Pennsylvania case.
Defense attorney Anthony Rizzo, who was in court on Wednesday on Lushevskiy's behalf, did not immediately respond to calls for comment on this case.
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