Russian Lesbian Found Dead With Throat Cut

A Russian woman was found dead in her car Sept. 7 in St. Petersburg with her throat cut in an apparent murder, Gay Star News reports.

A passing street cleaner found the body of Ekaterina Khomenk, 29, early morning last Sunday. Her throat had a 3.5-inch incision and her car's engine was left running and her headlights were on.

Police spoke with Khomenk's family, asking if she showed any suicidal tendencies in the past. Gay Star News reports the case is currently being investigated as a murder.

Khomenk was a dance teacher and taught tango to same-sex couples.

"We are shocked by the terrible murder of Ekaterina Khomenko, queer tango teacher in St. Petersburg," officials from Coming Out LGBT, a Russian-based LGBT group, said in a statement. "Ekaterina was a wonderful person, a great professional, daughter and friend. She was only 29. We express our condolences to the family and friends of Ekaterina. We will remember her and what she had done - bestowed joy and wings to many of us."

A spokesperson for the group is working in close contact with Khomenko's family and people involved in the case. They added there was no evidence that pointed to a motive in the young woman's murder.

The group is upset that the murder sparked anti-gay comments on VK.com, Russia's answer to Facebook. Members of the group plan to take screen shots of the hateful comments (one comment reportedly read "You should all be killed") and send them to police and will ask for the authorities to open a formal hate-speech investigation.