Man Who Murdered His Mother And Hid Her In Rego Park Went To Abraham Lincoln High School In Brighton Beach

Lyubov Gorbunova, 58, was murdered by her son, Roman, 21, on September 27. Two days later, he used Uber to transport his mother’s body, packed in a body bag and garbage can, to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Ten days later, on Saturday, October 8, her body was found, according to police.

The two came to the US from Uzbekistan in 2010, when Roman was 15-years-old. They came with the hope of a better life, and an escape from the torturous abuse they endured at the hands of Roman’s father and Gorbunova’s husband, according to a report by DNA Info.

When they came to the US, after the abusive father had fallen ill and died, they spent a couple of months living in Coney Island with Gorbunova’s friend Alena Solokhina. Gorbunova sent Roman to Abraham Lincoln High School in West Brighton, which he would soon drop out of to live solely off of him mother.

The abuse didn’t stop for Gorbunova when she came to the US. Her son picked up where his father left off. According to friends and family of the Gorbunovas, Roman would often beat his mother, even choking her on occasion.

Several months ago, Gorbunova started renting a room for herself and Roman in Rego Park. In July, Roman took a trip back to Uzbekistan. He took a body bag that he bought on Amazon with him, according to his family and prosecutors.

His half-sister, Marina Gorbunova, 30, who couldn’t come to the US with Roman and their mother because of immigration laws, asked him what the bag was for and Roman replied, “It’s better that you don’t know,” Marina told DNA Info.

In hindsight, Marina believes Roman had initially planned to kill her and her 2-year-old son.

“After what happened to my mother, I began analyzing his behavior, his questions, and realized that Roman came to kill me and my child,” she told DNA Info.

On September 27, Gorbunova and Roman drank two bottles of Kagor wine with dinner. Roman told police that an argument had been started during which Gorbunova told Roman she wished he had never been born. Roman lost it and hit her with a plate, causing both of them to fall to the ground.

While on the ground he used a metal pipe from a chair to beat Gorbunova to death. The medical examiner said on Friday that the cause of her death was “blunt impacts to head with multiple skull fractures and brain injuries.”

Roman hid her body behind a bed, and then later put her in the body bag, he confessed to investigators. Two days later, he was caught on surveillance footage, dragging a garbage can across the street from their residence.

He called an Uber to bring him and the body to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park where he would dump his mother’s body into Willow Lake, according to prosecutors.

According to Roman, the Uber driver helped him take the garbage can out of the car when they got to the park. The driver called 911 afterward because he thought there was a body in the can, according to prosecutors.

Roman tried to steal a security monitor from his building on September 30 and was arrested. He was released, however, because his mother wasn’t reported missing until October 3, according to police.

Solokhina began to get concerned after not seeing or hearing from Gorbunova. She reached out to Roman who gave various reasons why his mother wasn’t around. Because of growing suspicion, Solokhina filed a missing person report, and police began looking for Roman.

He was arrested on October 7 when he used his credit card in Bensonhurst. Gorbunova’s body was found in the lake the next day.

He was charged with murder, criminal possession of a weapon, tampering with physical evidence, and concealment of a human corpse. He was ordered held without bail, according to the Queens District Attorney’s office.

He will be back in court on October 21.

A GoFundMe campaign was started to help send Gorbunova’s body back to Uzbekistan and her daughter Marina. As of today, $3,827 has been raised. The goal is $10,000.

Yesterday, we wrote about domestic violence in Brooklyn and how the proper authorities aren’t shown the signs of abuse before it is too late. There are resources in the city to keep victims of domestic abuse out of danger, and they should absolutely be utilized.