Man in custody in connection with brutal triple murder
Police in California continue investigation
RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. – Sacramento County sheriff's deputies on Wednesday arrested the 19-year-old brother of a man whose wife and two young children were found brutally slain inside their suburban Sacramento home a day earlier.
The department's spokesman, Sgt. Jason Ramos, said "something bad was brewing for some time" between the suspect and his extended family.
The suspect, Grigoriy Bukhantsov, was taken into custody early Wednesday morning and was being booked at Sacramento County Jail. Ramos said he was the only suspect in the Tuesday killing of the woman, her 2-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter.
A 6-month-old baby survived the attack and was taken from the Rancho Cordova duplex unharmed.
The husband found the bodies when he returned home Tuesday afternoon, then ran to a neighbor, who called police. Authorities have not identified the husband, but they say he is not a suspect and has been cooperating, despite being distraught.
Authorities had been searching for a 2005 Chrysler minivan that had been stolen from the family's home after the attack and spotted it about 2 a.m. Wednesday in the parking lot of a Denny's restaurant in Rocklin, a suburb to the northeast of the state capital.
They found the 19-year-old sleeping inside a booth in the restaurant with a plate of chicken fried steak with gravy. He was then taken in for an interview.
"Based on that interview as well as what we have learned throughout the investigation since yesterday afternoon, we have arrested him for the murders of all three victims," Ramos said.
"We believe he is the only person responsible for this. We're not looking for any outstanding suspects at this time."
Ramos described the manner of the attack as "stabbing, slashing" but declined to go into further detail pending a coroner's inquiry. He said there was no forced entry into the home.
The identities of the victims were not immediately released.
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