Story By:  Sofija Dizdarevik, Sub-Editor:  Michael Leidig, Agency:  Newsflash

A professional water polo player has been jailed for 15 years after stabbing his beautiful millionaire girlfriend to death and beating her over the head so violently that her face was no longer recognisable.

Arsenija Stanovic, 25, was signed on contract with the water polo club “Primorac” and also played for the national team in Montenegro where he was dating the beautiful waitress turned multimillionaire businesswoman Anastasia Lashmanova, 33.

The Ukrainian woman had been almost penniless when she moved to the country but her fortunes changed after she connected with a Russian oligarch who is rumoured to have financed the local business empire that she created.

At the time of her death, she was estimated to be worth EUR 105 million (GBP 89.5 million) and one of the most influential people in the country.

In the 10 years that she had been there she had risen to become the director of the “Mimoza Group” of companies and “Sea trade”, she also owned three restaurants in the luxury complex “Porto Montenegro” in Tivat.

In addition, Lasmanova owned the “Perla” complex and the “Femme fatale” beauty salon, which is located in the “Tre canne” hotel in Budva.

According to local newspaper Blic: “Russian businessman Valery Zadorin is behind the Mimoza Group”.

They added: “He is the owner of one of the largest companies for the trade of luxury products in Russia called Aroma.”

Her body was found in her luxury penthouse in the town of Dobrota , which is located in the municipality of Kotor, in south-western Montenegro.

It was covered in blood and the forensic team confirmed that she had been stabbed 16 times with both a blade and a spiked weapon she had also suffered 10 blows to the head- leaving her body almost unrecognisable.

An unnamed source close to investigations said: “Her body was in a terrible state, it looked really scary! She was in a pool of her own blood with wounds covering her body.”

Emergency services were alerted to the situation by one of the victims friends who called them after she stopped responding to their calls.

Firefighters were sent to the victims luxury flat who eventually broke down the heavily armoured doors and found Lashmanova mutilated dead body.

Stanovic quickly became the prime suspect but when police tried to find him, they found he had fled Montenegro, assisted by his father, Zoran, who allegedly used his connections as a former head of the Border Police to get his son across the border into neighbouring Albania.

Local media reports that the pair were arrested by Albanian authorities who handed them over to Montenegro.

Stanovic was subsequently tried and sentenced to 15 years in prison for the murder.

Local media reports that he has since been sentenced to 15 years in prison which his lawyer Zoran Piperovic is appealing on mental health grounds.