Former Lord of the Rings FX artist admits murdering parents after row over beloved pet dog

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A former Lord of the Rings visual effects artist has admitted murdering his own parents in a rage after they were not kind enough to his beloved pet dog.

Sergey Koudryavtsev, 48, now faces life in prison for stabbing to death his mother Tatiana Koudriavtseva and father Vladimir Koudriavtseva at their home in West Kensington.

The Old Bailey heard he calling the police to “surrender himself for murder” a few days after the attacks, and a doctor found that “anger and rage” were behind the stabbing.

Koudryavtsev became annoyed at his parents in the months before the murders over his belief that they were not properly caring for his pet mastiff Enzo.

A Russian national who gained dual New Zealand citizenship, Koudryavtsev worked for a decade for Peter Jackson’s Weta Digital effects studio in Wellington, and was among the crew on Lord of the Rings sequels The Two Towers and Return of the King.

His other Hollywood credits include X Men: The Last Stand, James Cameron’s Avatar, The A-Team, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Koudryavtsev pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey today (thurs) to the murder of both of his parents on May 20.

His mother, a 68-year-old university lecturer, was found dead in the bathtub while her husband, 69, a professor of maths and physics, had been stabbed in the bedroom.

Prosecutor Anthony Orchard QC told the court: “At 6.29am on the morning of Thursday May 23, 2019, Surrey Police received a phone call from Sergey Koudryavtsev.

“He told the police operator that he’d called to ‘surrender himself for murder’.

“He said he’s killed two members of his family. He gave the address of the killing.

“Metropolitan Police officers arrived at 8am that morning, they had to break in.

“They found a woman lying dead in the bathtub. The bath was empty and she was fully clothed. She had been stabbed.

“They checked the bedroom and found a second body, that of a man. He had also been stabbed.

“The deceased was Tatiana Koudriavtsev, mother of the defendant, and Vladimir Koudriavtsev, his father.”

Koudryavtsev represented himself in court this afternoon as he insisted he wanted to plead guilty and understand possible defences that he may have pursued including loss of control.

“I believe I was in control when I did it”, he told the judge.

Koudryavtsev said he had been battling the urge to kill his parents for three and a half months and “imagining scenarios” to try to stop himself.

“I was trying to turn off the rage”, he told Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC, the Recorder of London.

Koudryavtsev added: “If you asked me the day before would I do it, I would say definitely not. But on the day I did it, I was fully conscious that was exactly what I was doing.”

A doctor who had assessed the killer found that Koudryavtsev “put his needs before any empathy towards his parents”.

Koudryavtsev, from North Kensington, was warned he faces life in prison and a possible 30-year stretch behind bars when he is sentenced on Friday, October 11.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and was remanded in custody until the hearing next week.

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