Forensic tests into the death of a Russian weapons expert in Malta have found that the man’s head wound was compatible with a dent on a door jamb in the St Paul’s Bay apartment where his body was found last month.
This evidence supports the police’s theory that the death of Alexander Pikayev was an accident and the man died after falling and hitting his head, sources said.
“There is nothing indicating this was a homicide,” the sources said, adding that murder would only be completely ruled out once toxicology results arrived from the UK.
The magisterial inquiry into Dr Pikayev’s death will only be closed after these results are in hand.
Dr Pikayev, 48, was found lying on the floor in an apartment in Triq Buġibba with a wound to his head on June 16. An autopsy revealed he had suffered from a fractured skull and intracranial haemorrhage.
A dent on the jamb of a door inside the apartment immediately led investigators to suspect the death was accidental. Forensic tests now proved the head wound was caused when he hit his head against the door, sources said.
The fact that the apartment was locked from the inside and nothing inside was disturbed reinforced the belief it was an accident, the sources added.
Dr Pikayev was holidaying in Malta with relatives, including his brother, and arrived a few days before the accident. Dr Pikayev’s funeral has not yet been held as his body is still at the mortuary in Malta until the Russian Embassy makes arrangements to transport the body back to Russia.
He was an internationally recognised expert on weapons of mass destruction disarmament and non-proliferation, and was one of the most frequently cited Russian experts in the field. He also headed the James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies’ (CNS) Nonproliferation Project in Russia.
Before his death the Russian official had noted in an interview with The Tehran Times that the Western sanctions against Iran were “irrational” and “fruitless” because the Islamic state was a developing country, rich in energy resources. In addition, he said the EU had fallen into the trap of US policy and followed suit by imposing sanctions against Iran.
In a tribute posted on the CNS website, Dr Pikayev’s colleague, Bill Potter, wrote: “Known to all of his friends and colleagues... simply as ‘Sasha’, he was in the prime of his life – personally and professionally... CNS plans to establish a scholarship fund in honour of Sasha for Russian students who pursue graduate work in the field of non-proliferation studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.”