Sofya Tsygankova, 31, charged on Monday with two counts of capital
murder in the deaths of daughters, Nika, 5, and Michela, 1, was
transferred to the medical unit of a county jail on Tuesday. She had
been in an area hospital for treatment of what were suspected to be
self-inflicted knife wounds, police in the suburb of Benbrook said.
Kholodenko, 29, left an area hotel on Thursday morning to pick up
the children when he came across the crime scene at his wife's home,
according to the arrest affidavit released on Tuesday. An official
autopsy has not yet been released.
The award-winning pianist discovered his wife inside a bedroom
closet, wearing a blood-soaked nightgown with cuts to her wrists and
a puncture wound on her chest, the arrest record said.
Detectives found the children in separate bedrooms and both girls
appeared to have been dead for some time. A pillow was found resting
near or partially on top of their heads, the affidavit said.
She told detectives that she "didn't see any future for me and my
kids" and admitted to wounding herself with a knife and swallowing a
lot of pills.
She has not made any public statements about the deaths.
Police records show she visited a mental health facility in Tarrant
County, Texas, the day before the children were found murdered.
Officers found at her residence an empty bottle of Quetiapine, an
anti-psychotic drug used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder,
and depression, which had been filled the same day.
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Kholodenko and Tsygankova married in 2010, but filed for divorce
last November, according to court records obtained by local media.
"Tsygankova had been going through some difficult times because of
the divorce," the affidavit said, citing an interview with her
sister, who lives in Amsterdam.
In 2013, Kholodenko won the gold medal in the prestigious Van
Cliburn International Piano Competition. He is an artist in
residence with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and was scheduled
to perform last weekend before a replacement was named.
A public memorial service for the girls sponsored by the orchestra
was planned for Tuesday evening at Arlington Heights United
Methodist Church in Fort Worth.
(Reporting by Lisa Maria Garza; Editing by Jon Herskovitz and Sandra
Maler)
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