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Man Allegedly Told Authorities He Killed His Wife, But When Investigators Went To His Home, They Found His Daughter Dead Too
Svetlana Nikitina Yamburg and her 11-year-old daughter were found dead in their Sunnyvale home, having sustained significant head trauma. Leonid Yamburg is now facing charges.
A California man allegedly walked into a police station to report that he had killed his wife—but investigators would later discover more than one body at the family’s home.
Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety officers also found the body of the couple’s 11-year-old daughter during a welfare check at the home.
“This is just a horrific tragedy,” Capt. Craig Anderson said in a press briefing about the grisly discovery. “Our hearts are broken for the family, for the victims and all their friends.”
Software engineer Leonid Solomonovich Yamburg walked into the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety headquarters just after 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday and allegedly told a records clerk that he had killed his wife, according to a statement from the department.
Yamburg was immediately detained by officers as authorities were sent to the family’s home to conduct a welfare check.
“Once our officers arrived there, they unfortunately found the suspect’s wife dead inside the garage and the suspect’s daughter dead inside one of the bathrooms,” Anderson said.
Both victims had significant head trauma, according to The Mercury News.
Anderson said that no weapons were recovered from the home, SF Gate reports.
Yamburg’s wife has been identified by authorities as Svetlana Nikitina Yamburg.
Public safety officers placed Yamburg under arrest, but he declined to be interviewed or provide any additional detail and invoked his right to an attorney,” Anderson said in the press conference.
Authorities provided few additional details and said the specific cause of death for both victims is under investigation by the Santa Clara County medical examiner.
A spokesperson for the medical examiner told Oxygen.com on Friday that they were unable to release any information about the case at this time.
Anderson said the “terrible tragedy” had also been difficult for law enforcement officers.
“The thing that people sometimes lose sight of is every police officer, or public safety officer that we have here in Sunnyvale, they are human beings first, and these incidents are all tragic incidents, but especially when it involves a kid,” he said.
Svetlana Nikitina Yamburg had worked as a resource teacher for students with disabilities in the Cupertino Union School District before her death.
Leslie Mains, an associate superintendent in the district, called her a “beloved” employee.
“We are so saddened by the tragedy and are working to support our students, staff, and community during this very difficult time of tremendous loss,” she said, according to SF Gate.
Leonid Yamburg—who was reportedly working as an engineer at a software company—has been arrested on suspicion of two counts of murder.
