Justice for Ana-Maria: The Kidnapping and Murder that Shocked the Nation

Quick Hit: May2, 2024

Author’s Note: The following story covers the details of a case of kidnapping, rape and murder which has unfolded over the past few weeks. At Moldova Matters we rarely focus on local interest or crime stories. I’ve written about this in a past post explaining what does and what doesn’t meet the threshold for coverage in the roundup. This story is different than a typical assault or murder in ways that we will discuss below and should become clear while reading the article. It has grabbed national attention and focused Moldova on questions of violence against women and children. Please be warned, the details of this case are extremely disturbing.

The Disappearance and Murder of Ana-Maria

On April 12th Ana-Maria was waiting for her boyfriend to pick her up at a bus stop in Orhei. Her boyfriend called telling her he was unable to pick her up and had sent a friend in his place. The friend arrived at the bus stop and found that Ana-Maria was gone.

Ana-Maria, photo source Facebook accessed via ZdG

At the time of her disappearance Ana-Maria was 19 years old and 6 months pregnant. She was a student at the Pedagogical College in Orhei and provided meditation classes to children in her free time. She was returning back to her dormitory after one such class while she waited at the bus stop for her boyfriend’s friend’s car.

When he didn’t find her at the bus stop, the friend and boyfriend contacted the police. Four hours later they filed an official missing persons report.

Initial police searches focused on the area in Orhei near where she disappeared. But by April 16th police discovered that Ana-Maria had gotten into a different car, a Ford, and this car drove out of the city. Using CCTV footage police were able to identify the car and its owner Gheorghe Cotorobai. When they arrived at Mr. Cotorobai’s house he refused to let them in until officers obtained a warrant a few hours later. Gheorghe Cotorobai was officially named as a suspect in the murder and police report that he is not cooperating.

Over 900 people including 200 volunteers conducted a multi-day search for the missing woman. Police refined the search area based on additional CCTV footage including a camera that allegedly showed Ana-Maria being inside the suspects house between 9 am and 4 am following her disappearance. She then exited the house "on her own feet" according to chief of police Viorel Cernautanu and re-entered the suspects car. They then drove away.

On April 20th searchers found the body of Ana-Maria 21 km from the suspects house. The body had been thrown in a hole near a stream and covered with branches and leaves.

Police have not officially released information from the medical examiner, but newspaper ZdG reports that Ana-Maria had been tortured before death. Citing sources the paper writes that the 19 year old pregnant woman had been sexually assaulted, had needle marks in her left arm and had multiple cigarette burns on her hands. She died of an open head wound likely caused by multiple hits from a blunt object.

The Suspect - who is Gheorghe Cotorobai?

Mr. Cotorobai is 45 years old and previously worked as a police officer from 1999 to 2000. He later worked as a guard at a juvenile prison from November 2020 until June 2023. The National Prison Administration confirmed his working dates and stated that in his time at the prison there were no complaints from either staff or inmates about Mr. Cotorobai. He left the job after contracting COVID-19 and being unable to continue working.

Mr. Cotorobai owned multiple agricultural plots and ran a small company engaged in agribusiness. Neighbors said that he lived a quiet life and only left his house to go to a local bar where no one reports seeing him drunk. Mr. Cotorobai has 2 children who live abroad with his ex-wife. They divorced in 2020 and ZdG reports that some sources who knew the family say that he abused his wife.

Investigative outlet RISE Moldova reported that at an unspecified time in the past another family lived with Mr. Cotorbai in his house in Chițcanii Vechi. The family had a 10 year old daughter who was repeatedly raped by Mr. Cotorbai’s former father in law. The case proceeded to court but was later dropped by prosecutors after the father in law died.

Gheorghe Cotorobai maintains his innocence and refuses to cooperate with police. He requested a polygraph test which was denied by prosecutors. His lawyer initially stated that Mr. Cotorbai is sick and was prescribed medicines by doctors “which could push him to commit such a crime.” Later the lawyer was reported to have left the case citing, in part, public pressure. The court has appointed the suspect a new lawyer.

Gheorghe Cotorobai. Photo accessed via Newsmaker.

Gheorghe Cotorobai faces life in prison as he is being investigated for kidnapping and murder “with aggravated circumstances." “Aggravated circumstances” is defined, in part, as a crime committed against someone deemed exceptionally vulnerable. Pregnant women fall under this definition. In the case that a court finds there to be no aggravated circumstance, or where the convicted person shows remorse and cooperates, the penalty could be between 15 and 20 years.

Prosecutors have also put out multiple photos of Gheorghe Cotorobai showing how his appearance has changed over time. They are asking that anyone who was previously been harmed by him come forward. They say that multiple people have already been in contact.

The Strange Case of Alexei Cotorobai, Gheorghe’s Brother

The murder suspect’s brother Alexei Cotorobai is a member of the Shor-linked Chance Party and was a candidate for the party in last year’s local elections. He ran for mayor of his town but was removed from the electoral list along with all other Chance Party candidates prior to the election. Initially, after reports about his brother’s alleged crime Alexei wrote on social media saying that his brother was innocent before refusing any requests by media for comment. Police have confirmed that they are working on the hypothesis that Alexei Cotorobai somehow knew 19 year old Ana-Maria. No more details have been made public, but the press has discovered that Alexei Cotorobai himself has a very checkered past.

Alexei Cotorobai. Photo source Facebook, accessed via ZdG.

In 2019 Alexei Cotorobai was convicted of “hooliganism” and sentenced to 3 years in prison, a sentenced that was later reduced, for assaulting multiple minors in the street. Alexei Cotorobai was drunk when he shouted obscenities at the underaged children and "forced them to kneel in front of him with their hands behind the head, threatening to put them in the trunk of his VW Passat model car." He then punched and slapped multiple victims in the face and kneed one person in the stomach.

Following this news, ZdG further investigated Alexei Cotorobai’s past and found that he was alleged to have murdered a 10 month old baby 14 years ago. A crime that he allegedly covered up. Legal reports from 2010 say that the baby was killed "as a result of him being shaken by unidentified persons." The child’s mother, who was 17 at the time, was convicted of the crime of "knowingly leaving without help a person who is in a life-threatening condition and is deprived of the possibility of saving himself." She engaged in a plea deal and having admitted guilt and expressed remorse was released from criminal liability because she was underaged and had no prior criminal record. The mother and her mother then left Moldova.

The child’s grandmother Claudia Cocier spoke to ZdG and alleged that the real killer was Alexei Cotorobai. She says that he came to their house in February 2010 and assaulted the 17 year old wanting to have sex. The baby began crying and Alexei Cotorobai threw the girl out of the house. When she was let back in the baby was lying on the floor with his eyes closed. After the mother went to pick the child up, Alexei Cotorobai allegedly took the baby from her and placed him in a plastic tub in the kitchen. He then forcibly took the girl from the house and drove to a bar. Following that he held her captive a knifepoint at a different location for 5 days.

Claudia Cocier stated that Alexei Cotorobai forced her daughter to plead guilty to the crime and threatened to kill her. She says that Alexei Cotorobai’s mother and brother also threatened her and her daughter’s lives. She stated:

"She was forced, because he imposed it. He, his mother, his brother. They said that if she wouldn't write as they say, they would kill our whole family. They said that we, our whole [extended] family, would end up with crosses at our heads. We were threatened at every turn, we were followed at every turn. I was afraid to sleep in the house."

Claudia Cocier and her daughter later fled Moldova. They currently live abroad. Speaking of the case and alleged coverup she stated:

“I prayed many times that everything would come out. Everything could be discovered then. They stole money, the police covered everything up. Why is it clogged? That they had money? But I was poor and had no money. If you have money - you're smart, but if you don't have money - you're stupid. They were laughing and driving their cars, and his mother was scolding me all the way because I was blaming her boy,"

At the trial Alexei Cotorobai appeared as a witness where he testified that he never went to the girl’s house or saw her baby. He says that on that night he called her and she went to the bar to join him. After that they went to her grandparent’s house in another town for some days. This was apparently sufficient to overcome statements made to the police by the girl at the time alleging the version of events above.

Alexei Cotorobai has refused to comment on any of these articles and is reported to have turned his phone off.

Following ZdG’s report the General Prosecutor’s office announced that they are now considering Alexei Cotorobai’s potential involvement in the 14 year old crime.

Public Reactions and Political Aftermath

On April 23rd a funeral was held for Ana-Maria in her home village of Susleni, Orhei. On the same day a demonstration was held in front of the government building entitled "Justice for Ana-Maria." Organizers from the NGO "Life without Violence" called attention to the broader issues of gender based violence stating:

"Ana-Maria shouted and asked for help, but no one heard her. She, like any of us, knew the fear with which you walk home in the evening, and in her place it could be any of us, from any village or city. We have no right to be silent, to ignore, to overlook or to think that this is the last case, it will not happen again "

The demonstration was well attended and represented the massive outpouring of support for the victim and family as well as the public outrage at the crime.

Parliament has announced that they are considering including the crime of “femicide” into legislation. Deputy Speaker of Parliament Doina German spoke about this saying:

“Gender-based violence remains a national tragedy. The statistics are alarming. In 2023 in Moldova, 24 women were killed by their husbands, cohabitants or partners, in 2022 - 21 women. In addition, every third woman in our country has been subjected to violence during her lifetime,”

Police have responded to criticisms that they did not react quickly enough to save her life. Chief of Police Viorel Cernautanu called attention to barriers that the police face in investigating crimes like this and stated that if they were able to get information more quickly it may have been possible to find her in time. He stated:

“Every day in Moldova, the police receive 5-10 reports of missing minors and are obliged to respond immediately to them in order to establish the identity, location and return the minors to their families or to the center from which they left. I regret to note that the legal levers we have today are not the most favorable. Some platforms with which the police have signed agreements, including Facebook, provide us with more opportunities than legal instruments,”

Specifically the Chief noted that one problem the police faced was simply timing. Ana-Maria disappeared on a Friday. He stated that even if police could have quickly obtained a warrant for all cell phone users in the area quickly, the telecom companies do not have any staff working Friday evening, or over the weekend to respond. Additionally, he called for police to have direct access to public CCTV cameras which would cut down the time needed for gathering potential evidence.

Viorel Cernautanu also partially blamed the Shor Party mayor of Orhei, Tatiana Cocia, for delays in the investigation. He stated that the mayor gave footage of the victim in the suspect’s car to the Canal 5 TV Station before the police. At the time officers already knew what car they were looking for and that the broadcasting of this information gave the suspect time to destroy evidence.

A Very Unusual Case for Moldova

The case of Ana-Maria has captured the attention of a country where crimes like this are extremely rare. Moldova is generally considered a safe country. A “typical” murder or attempted murder in Moldova almost invariably follows a pattern. Just this week such a case occurred in Chisinau when police responded to a shooting in the city center. Two men were drinking heavily and got into an argument. One then shot the other with an illegally obtained firearm. The man survived and is in stable condition. Police responded immediately and the man was arrested.

Almost all murder or attempted murder cases in Moldova follow this pattern. Two or 3 people are drinking heavily and a fight breaks out. Then someone murders, or attempts murder, with some improvised weapon close at hand. This could be a knife, crowbar, ax, hammer, screwdriver or other instrument. Occasionally there will be a story involving a firearm or even a grenade. Cases like this involve escalating arguments and a lot of alcohol.

The case of Ana-Maria is different in uncountable ways. Most critically it seems to be very random, causing people to think that this could have been them or their sister or daughter. Whether this is actually a case of random violence remains to be seen. Police have not announced any connection between Gheorghe Cotorobai and the victim, but seem to be investigating a possible link with Alexei Cotorobai.

Another incredibly unusual aspect of the case is the complexity. Police were able to utilize CCTV and other technology while mobilizing hundreds of volunteers for the search. At the same time, a full accounting of the movements of Gheorghe Cotorobai and Ana-Maria remains unclear. More details are certain to emerge as the investigation continues but it is clear that there is nothing straightforward about this case.

Finally, the story of these two brothers has added an entirely new dimension to the crime. Police have not charged Alexei Cotorobai for the crime or officially linked him to it in any way. At the same time, the revelations from ZdG about Alexei Cotorobai’s past conviction and alleged crimes, as well as the links being investigated by the police paint a very confused picture.

We’ll continue with updates on this case as they come through the Weekly Roundup.