The American editor of Forbes magazine's Russian edition was gunned down in a contract killing ordered by a former Chechen separatist, prosecutors said Monday, announcing that two Chechens would stand trial in the 2004 death. Paul Klebnikov, a 41-year-old American of Russian descent, was killed outside the magazine's Moscow offices on July 9, 2004. Two Chechens currently now in custody, Kazbek Dukuzov and Musa Vakhayev, are being charged with the murder and with other crimes, the prosecutor-general's office said.Prosecutors said Khozh-Akhmed Nukhayev, a former deputy prime minister in Chechnya's separatist government, had offered the two men and other accomplices money to carry out the murder. Nukhayev was the subject of a critical book by Klebnikov called "Conversations with a Barbarian." Investigators have given no evidence to back up their conclusion, however, and doubts remain about whether the suspects were involved. Klebnikov's family has expressed skepticism about the Chechens' involvement, and urged the Russian government to invite U.S. law enforcement agencies into the investigation. His brother, Michael, said that Klebnikov had given him the impression that Nukhayev was pleased with the book. The whereabouts of the former separatist figure are unknown.
Some observers have pointed to the journalist's investigative work as a more likely motive, saying Klebnikov had delved deep into the still-murky post-Soviet business world in his work at Forbes.