Worthing mother-of-two killed by 'obsessed' family friend who then killed himself

Maryna Zhytnyk-Kavaliauske and Alex Chernoff were both found dead in her home in South Farm Road, Worthing, on April 13 last year.

At Crawley Coroner's Court yesterday, assistant coroner Joanne Andrews concluded that Mrs Zhytnyk-Kavaliauske was unlawfully killed and that Chernoff took his own life.

The inquests heard that the police ruled out a number of other hypotheses, including a suicide pact, that the mother-of-two killed Chernoff and then herself, and that a third party killed them both.

DC Dawn Robertson from Sussex Police led the investigation. She said that by speaking to friends and family, officers had ruled out that the pair were in a relationship.

She said: "We couldn't find any hard evidence that suggested that Maryna had been in a relationship with Alex. Alex was obsessed with Maryna, but we never found any evidence to suggest she was in a relationship with him.

"She spoke incredibly highly of her husband and family, and how important that was to her."

DC Robertson said that Chernoff, a family friend who was helping to look after their children, had displayed 'strange behaviour' towards her in the run-up to their deaths.

She said: "Alex had cut up her clothing, cut telephone lines in her home address and turned up at her place of work, but Maryna was of the opinion that she wanted to protect him and look after him."

Her husband Giedrius Kavaliauskas was in Lithuania with their two children at the time of the deaths, and was at his wife's inquest. In a statement read out at the inquest, he said he believed Chernoff killed her.

He said: "She was a very forgiving, loving person and tried to give someone a chance and do their best for them.

"All she had done was try to help him."

"We were very happy together"

Mrs Zhytnyk-Kavaliauske, from Ukraine, and Mr Kavaliauskas, from Lithuania, first met when they were flower pickers at a farm in West Sussex. They got married and had two children together, who are now 12 and 9, and moved into their home in South Farm Road, Worthing in 2007.

He said: "We were very happy together and had a perfect relationship. We would share any problems and talk them through. She was very kind and thoughtful.”

The couple first met Chernoff, known by different names but to them as Viasa, in 2004 through his then-wife. They became close and asked him to be their daughter’s godfather.

In 2009, Mr Kavaliauskas got in trouble with the police and went to prison for four years. “Maryna stood by me and visited me every week,” he said.

By this time, Chernoff had split with his wife and had nowhere to live, so he moved into their home and helped Mrs Zhytnyk-Kavaliauske look after the children.

“I was not happy with this arrangement, but there was nothing I could do,” Mr Kavaliauskas said.