A Surrey, B.C. man has been charged with first-degree murder in Chicago after police say he stalked and killed an ex-girlfriend he met on the internet.
Twenty-year-old Dmitry Smirnov is accused of gluing a GPS device to Jitka Vesel's car, tracking her movements and then shooting her with a handgun.
"This murder was committed pursuant to preconceived plan, scheme or design, to take a life by unlawful means," DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin said.
Prosecutors say Smirnov researched Illinois's policy on the death penalty before killing Vesel. The state abolished capital punishment just last month.
"The defendant was aware that the death penalty had recently been abolished, so he knew then that he could go through with his plan," Berlin said.
Smirnov met 36-year-old Vesel three years ago on a dating site before moving to the Chicago area. When the relationship fell apart in 2008, Smirnov moved back to B.C., but investigators say he continued to harrass her online and over the phone.
He drove back to Chicago two weeks ago, allegedly stopping along the way in Seattle to buy the gun and GPS unit. Investigators say he waited in a parking lot Wednesday night while Vesel, who works as a translator, attended a meeting.
Smirnov allegedly shot Vesel multiple times when she came outside. He turned himself in to police several hours later.
Smirnov has been denied bond and makes his next court appearance in May.
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