Killer convicted in 2009 of killing Brooklyn supermarket owner

The “ruined” family of a Brooklyn businessman, his killer spent a decade on the Lam After the 2009 assassination, he finally got justice on Thursday – when he was sentenced to 15 years of life imprisonment.

Abakar Gadiyev in December robbed and fatally beat supermarket owner and father of four, Vladimir Tolstykh, 35, on March 14, 2009.

Gadiyev then fled to Sydney, Australia, where he stayed until the police tracked him down and towed him back to the US in 2019.

In court on Thursday, Tolstykh’s widow and children framed the killer for what he did to them.

“You, Mr. Gadiyev, destroyed me and my family, leaving us in pain and pain [a] Scar that will last a lifetime, so your time in prison should be a lifetime,” widow Rita Tolstykh said at his sentencing in the Brooklyn Supreme Court.

She told the judge she had four young children to look after – including her daughter Angelica, who was just three weeks old at the time.

She also said she went through many sleepless nights.

“I lived with this fear every day while these two men fled [the] United States and lived on,” Rita said, referring to Gadiyev’s alleged accomplice Arsen Bashirov.

“They tore up my life and that of my children [lives] in pieces. They killed an innocent man, a loving husband, father and his mother’s only child,” Rita said.

Angelica, now 13, said Gadiyev cut her father’s life too short.

“Because of what you did, I didn’t meet my father or have any memories of him,” Angelica said.

“We are now growing up and learning that you killed our father and tried to get away with it,” the young girl said. “But you won’t get an easy way out, because my Heavenly Father is always watching over me and will make sure you get your punishment for the destruction you’ve caused.”

Tolstykh’s stepson, Andrew Sorkin, who was only 8 at the time of the murder, said he was relieved to put the whole nightmare behind him.

“I’m finally relieved that this is coming to an end after nearly 13 years since my stepfather’s murder,” Sorkin said. “I’m glad that justice is finally being done. But the pain in our hearts will never fade and the memories of Vlad will never go away.”

The 40-year-old Turkmen national sat hunched over in handcuffs as he told the judge: “No words can heal and remove the pain I have caused.

“I’m incredibly sorry for what I did and I’ll have to live with it for the rest of my life.”

Judge Vincent Del Giudice said he hoped the ruling would bring some degree of closure to the family.

“I cannot render a judgment in this case that brings the victim back to life,” the judge said. “I can only hope that the verdict I’m about to impose will bring some degree of closure.”

“It was a brutal murder, there is no excuse for that.”

Del Giudice handed down the sentence, which was agreed upon when Gadiyev finalized his plea deal in December – 15 years to life for second-degree murder and 15 years for robbery, to be imposed at the same time.

The judge said he approved the lighter sentence because it would spare the family a trial.

Del Giudice also said he hopes that Gadiyev will be deported to his home country after his release from prison.

Afterwards, Rita told The Post in court that it was “heartbreaking” to be at the sentencing hearing today.

“Justice would be done if he got life, but he has 15 years to live and I don’t think taking someone’s life is justice,” Rita said.

A spokesman for the Brooklyn Attorney’s Office told The Post that Bashirov is believed to be in Turkmenistan – a country that has no extradition treaty with the US.

“For nearly 13 years, Vladislav Tolstykh’s family and friends have waited for this defendant to be brought to justice,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement. “Today’s verdict holds him responsible for brutally and recklessly beating this innocent shopkeeper to death.”