Phoenix man arrested for killing woman, dumping body in suitcase

By David Schwartz PHOENIX (Reuters) - A Phoenix man has been arrested for killing a woman, stuffing her body into a large suitcase and leaving it beside a trash bin, court records showed on Monday. Semyon Shamsiyev, 36, is being held on a $500,000 bond at a Maricopa County jail on suspicion of first-degree murder and abandoning the body of 25-year-old Kali Bouldin in the north of the city late last week. According to newly released court documents, Shamsiyev told police during questioning that Bouldin was a prostitute and that he had used her services in the past, passing out during his most recent encounter with her. "Semyon stated that Kali tried to rob him," according to a probable cause statement by police, adding that he gave no other details other than saying he "blacked out." He then asked for an attorney, the court documents showed. A police spokesman said detectives could not confirm that Bouldin was a prostitute, and that a motive in the case was yet to be determined. Police say surveillance tapes show Shamsiyev buying the black, roller-type suitcase at a department store hours before the woman's body was found by restaurant workers taking out the trash on Thursday morning. A white van he was driving was also spotted near the crime scene by another security camera, according to court records. Investigators probing the woman's disappearance used the GPS on her rental vehicle and found it at the apartment complex where Shamsiyev lived and where he was taken into custody. A county medical examiner determined that Bouldin's neck was cut and that she died by strangulation. (Editing by Daniel Wallis and Eric Walsh)