A former police officer is on trial for the murder of his transgender girlfriend in Siberia before cutting off her fingers so he could unlock her phone to make it appear she was still alive.

But he was arrested after cops discovered that she had been using the phone long after she was dead, and after hearing that the couple had been involved in a bitter row on the morning of 5th October last year, he was arrested.

Denis Kalinin, 22, and his transgender girlfriend Victoria Basakovskaya, 24, lived together in the village of Burmistrova in Iskitimsky District of Novosibirsk Oblast, located in the southwestern part of Siberia in Russia.

The 22-year-old said he was jealous of his transgender lover and strangled her when she made him angry. He then got rid of the body, but before that he chopped off the deceased’s finger to unlock her phone and leave a fake trail for cops by sending messages.

The search for the young woman, who was previously called Nikolai Basakovsky before transitioning, began following a missing person report submitted by the alleged killer in order to divert suspicion away from himself.

Victoria’s body with signs of strangulation was found outside the village on 13th October 2020 when the former policeman confessed to her murder and showed where he had hidden the body.

According to the accused, the motive for the crime was jealousy and the fact that she had insulted his family.

During the interrogation, Kalinin claims he flew into a rage when she started insulting his mother, saying: “No one has the right to insult my relatives like that.”

Nadezhda Asatryan, the victim’s mother, is sure that the killer had another motive, namely money, and that the murder was carefully planned long ago.

She said: “The option of jealousy cannot exist here. This is about the theft of money accumulated by my child. The purpose of the robbery was kidnapping and murder. There is no jealousy.”

After Victoria’s death, he sent a message to a friend from the victim’s personal social media page, using the severed digits to unlock it, it is claimed.

He left a message saying that she had gone to visit an old friend in Berdsk.

But the plan failed as it was later established that the message had been sent after Victoria’s death, and Denis was caught.

Relatives of the deceased are convinced that the former policeman still has something to hide including the fact that others were probably involved.

Kristina Panova, a friend of Victoria Basakovskaya, said: “It is certain that the attacker was not alone. Because she was very well prepared physically, she could fight anyone. Denis is no exception. “

According to the NTV news website, Victoria’s Basakovskaya was fit and actively involved in sports.

The family of the young woman want the investigation to be expanded.

So far, only Kalinin has been arrested over the matter and is facing up to 15 years in prison.