A suspect in the death of a prominent Russian scientist working on a COVID-19 vaccine is being released from police custody on Monday pending a lie detector test.
Police also released new details of the suspicious death of Alexander “Sasha” Kagansky, 45, who was found dead with a knife after throwing 14 floors from his apartment in St. Petersburg on Saturday, according to the reports.
Kagansky, who was wearing underwear, was discovered outside the building by a neighbor.
The suspect, identified as a childhood friend of Kagansky’s, told police they were celebrating the scientist’s birthday when he was stabbed and jumped to death, the Moscow Times said.
A Russian news site, Fontanka.ru, identified the suspect as journalist Igor Ivanov.
Police detained the suspect for questioning for 48 hours, but he was due to be released Monday awaiting a polygraph, the Moscow Times said.
Kagansky, who was best known for his work on cancer research, spent 13 years working in Edinburgh, Scotland, until 2017.
He recently worked as director of the Center for Genomic and Regenerative Medicine at the Federal University of the Far East in Russia.
He was reportedly working on a COVID-19 vaccine.