Rasputin. 2. The Murderers

The Murderers

Prince Felix Yusupov seemed an unlikely murderer. Not only was he the heir to a vast family fortune, he was married to the tsar’s niece, Irina, a beautiful young woman. Felix was also considered very good looking, and with his looks and money he was able to indulge in his fancies. His fancies usually were in the form of sex, much of which was considered perverse at the time, most especially, transvestism and homosexuality. It is believed that these attributes helped Felix ensnare Rasputin.

Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich was Tsar Nicholas II’s cousin (he was the son of Pavel Alexandrovich who was the son of Tsar Alexander II). Dmitry was once engaged to the tsar’s eldest daughter, Olga Nikolaevna, but his continued friendship with the homosexually-inclined Felix (after forbidden to continue the friendship) made the royal couple break off the engagement.

Vladimir Purishkevich was an outspoken member of the Duma (the lower house of the Russian parliament). On November 19, 1916, Purishkevich made a rousing speech in the Duma in which he stated, “the tsar’s ministers who have been turned into marionettes, marionettes whose threads have been taken firmly in hand by Rasputin and the Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna – the evil genius of Russia and the tsar . . . who has remained a German on the Russian throne and alien to the country and its people.”1 Felix Yusupov attended the speech and afterwards contacted Purishkevich, who quickly agreed to participate in the murder of Rasputin.

Lieutenant Sukhotin was a convalescing, young officer of the Preobrazhensky Regiment.

Dr. Lazavert was a friend and the physician of Purishkevich. Dr. Lazavert was added as the fifth member because they needed someone to drive the car.

The Plan

The plan was relatively simple. Felix Yusupov was to befriend Rasputin and then lure Rasputin to the Yusupov palace to be killed.

•When would the murder take place?
Since Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich was busy on every night until December 16 and Vladimir Purishkevich was leaving on a hospital train for the front on December 17, it was decided that the murder would be committed on the night of December 16-17. As for what time, the conspirators wanted the cover of night to hide the murder and the disposal of the body. Plus, Felix noticed that Rasputin’s apartment wasn’t guarded after midnight. It was decided that Felix would pick up Rasputin at his apartment on Gorokhovaya ulitsa at half past midnight.

•How would they lure Rasputin to the Yusupov palace?
Knowing Rasputin’s love of sex, the conspirators would use Felix’s beautiful wife, Irina, as bait. Felix would tell Rasputin that he could meet Irina at the palace with the innuendo of a possible sexual liaison.2 Felix wrote his wife, who was staying at their home in the Crimea, to ask her to join him in this important event. After several letters, she wrote back in the beginning of December in hysteria stating that she couldn’t follow through with it. The conspirators then had to find a way to lure Rasputin without actually having Irina there. They decided to keep Irina as a lure, but to fake her presence.

•Where in the palace would the murder take place?
Felix and Rasputin would enter a side entrance of the palace with stairs leading down to the basement so that no one could see them enter or leave the palace. Felix was having the basement refurbished as a cozy dining room.

•What weapon would they use for the murder?
Since the Yusupov palace was along the Moika Canal and across from a police station, using guns was not possible for fear of them being heard. Thus, they decided to use poison.

•How would they kill Rasputin?
The dining room in the basement would be set up as if several guests had just left it in a hurry. Noise would be coming from upstairs as if Irina, Felix’s wife, were entertaining unexpected company. Felix would tell Rasputin that Irina would come down once her guests had left. While waiting for Irina, Felix would offer Rasputin potassium-cyanide laced pastries and wine.

•How would they make sure they were not implicated?
They needed to make sure that no one knew that Rasputin was going with Felix to the Yusupov palace. Besides urging Rasputin not to tell anyone of his rendezvous with Irina, the plan was for Felix to pick up Rasputin via the back stairs of his apartment. And finally, the conspirators decided that they would call the restaurant/inn Villa Rhode on the night of the murder to ask if Rasputin was there yet, hoping to make it seem that he was expected there but never showed up.

•What would they do with the body?
After Rasputin was killed, the conspirators were going to wrap up the body in a rug, weigh it down, and throw it into a river. Since winter had already come, most of the rivers near Petrograd were frozen. The conspirators spent a morning looking for a suitable hole in the ice to dump the body. They found one on the Malaya Nevka River.

I kept it as short as i could without ruining the story. 😀