A teenager in the middle of a love triangle died of a “broken heart” after her new boyfriend was brutally stabbed to death by her ex.
Denis Miller, 22, launched the attack on Denis Gubarev, 26, at Russia’s Novosibirsk State Technical University in February.
Sofia K, 18, had split up with Miller three months earlier and started dating the other student, both of whom were psychology post-graduates.
Miller hugged his rival and pretended to “make up” before stabbing him repeatedly.
Denis died in Sofia’s arms as she tried to save him.
An eyewitness said: ”The young man was lying on his side, unconscious, and next to him was a girl in a state of shock.
“She sobbed, held his hand, stroked him.”
In March, undergraduate Sofia was found dead at her flat in Novosibirsk.
Initially, police thought she may have taken her own life – but there were no indications of suicide.
A source at her university said: “Doctors and forensic experts tend to think that it was a heart failure due to the acute stress she experienced.
“Some additional forensic analysis taking a long time is underway, and the results will be reported later.
“But so far the main version is not suicide, but a heart attack.
“She just could not stand it.”
A law enforcement source confirmed to Komosmolskaya Pravda newspaper that no evidence of suicide had been discovered.
They said: ”She was found without visible signs of violent death or traces of vomit.”
It emerged that Miller had taught a group of undergraduates and quizzed his class on “whether he should kill his love rival”.
Despite the strange question during a class, no-one reported him to the authorities.
A female student admitted: “A few days before, he told the students about his plans to kill his rival…
“He said he was not afraid of anything, since life had lost its meaning for him, but he would deal with his rival, and was not afraid of punishment.”
Denis’ grieving mum Ekaterina came face to face with the self-confessed killer in custody.
She said: “He had a look as if he really wanted to see our grief, some kind of hopelessness in our eyes.
“I saw that this feeling was important to him, that he had hurt us. There was no remorse at all.”
Miller faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted of the killing.
A student who knew all three in the love triangle said: “It will be very hard for Denis now, to be in jail and know that Sofia has also died.”