Kirov Murder Mystery

1. In what circumstances did the assassin carry out the murder?

The assassin, Leonid Nikolayev, had to carry out the Kirov murder with interesting circumstances. Nikolayev was a little off his rocker, as in he had been taken off the Communist Party and reinstated, and he felt like he wasn't being recognized for his work that he was doing in the party. To add to this, he believed that his wife, MIlde Draule, was having an affair with Kirov which made him angry and revengeful.

The circumstances with Kirov were that Kirov was becoming really popular with the party and the popular, as popular and maybe even more popular than Stalin; which Stalin most likely saw as a huge threat to his reign. Kirov was also more likeable to the people than Stalin and was a great orator (as good as Trotsky), which added to Stalin seeing Kirov as a threat.

2. What strange coincidences surround the murder?

The strange coincidences that surround the murder are that Kirov left his personal body guard, Borisov, downstairs while he went upstairs to his office and Kirov didn't notice the absence of the other body guards that are usually there; these strange coincidences were during the murder but there were also strange coincidences before the murder. For example, Kirov and Stalin had recently had many issues or disagreements between each other, a few personnel were put in key posts without Medved's (the head of the NKVD) persmission, and Nikolayev had been arrested twice in Kirov's neighborhood. Even when Medved tried to take out these key personnel they were told by a high authority to not leave or move.

3. Is there any evidence to link Stalin to the murder?

There is no physical evidence to link Stalin to the murder, but there is some mysterious incidences that you can assume Stalin was involved in the murder, such as when Nikolayev was interrogated and asked why he murdered Kirov and he said to ask 'them" referring to the NKVD. Since the NKVD were accused there could be some connection to Stalin because he has full control and pretty much made the the NKVD.

4. Is there any evidence to suggest that the NKVD was involved in the murder?

There is some evidence, but it is questionable because Nikolayev accuses the NKVD of telling him to kill Kirov, while he was being interrogated he was asked why he killed Kirov and responded by saying why don't you ask 'them,' referring to the NKVD. Therefore, you can assume that the NKVD wanted Kirov gone for some reason, but we can't be sure that this is true because Nikolayev could be exaggerating or lying.

5. Who had the best motive for the murder?

The best motive is Nikolayev because he had personal reasons, while the NKVD and Stalin just wanted to make sure they still had power and that Stalin still had all the power. Nikolayev thought Kirov and his wife were having an affair, which is a reason to want to kill someone because your wife or husband goes behind your back and has an affair with someone else, which would make someone very angry. Also, he disagreed with the communist party's beliefs which could be a reason to kill someone who is a big part of the communist party and does the things that Nikolayev disagrees with. Maybe in his mind in order to get rid of or to try to stop the ways of the communist party is by killing a key player or figure, in this case Kirov.

6. What theories can you suggest about who was responsible - was it the assassin alone or were others involved?

I believe that Stalin was completely responsible for Kirov's murder. I believe this because Stalin has had issues where he's had possible threats and he's dealt with them by eliminating them. For example, he eliminated the Kulaks when they threatened to, in his eyes, defy his revolutionary ideas and ideology. Stalin killed the Kulaks in order to get rid of this threat, but he also he got rid of the other party members such as Trotsky, Kamenev, Zinoviev, and Bukharin when they were potential threats against him obtaining power. However, Stalin didn't kill them, which could be because he wasn't in power yet and if he did kill them it could be a very high possibility that he wouldn't get into power because the people or Congress wouldn't want a murderer as a ruler.

I believe that it wasn't just the assassin involved, I believe Stalin and the NKVD were all working together to pull the murder off. I believe that Stalin had told the plans to the NKVD who then hired Nikolayev to do the main task. The entire NKVD, however, wasn't involved just certain members that Stalin might've specifically talked to; like the personnel that were put at key posts and were told by a higher authority other than Medved to stay there, possibly by Stalin and Zaporozhets. I don't think the bodyguard, Borisov, was involved because he would've told the truth if he made it to the interrogation room but the NKVD killed him "accidentally." I think this "accident" was on purpose because it was by a group of NKVD, who I suspect were already involved with the murder, and the truck load of men could be a sort of cover up to make it look like it was an accident because the people may not think that a group of soldiers in a truck wouldn't purposely go try to kill someone. Therefore, I believe Stalin and parts of the NKVD were involved, except for the bodyguard Borisov who I think was murdered by the NKVD and Stalin; I believe Stalin planned this entire event but he wasn't involved in any of the dirty work because of the mysterious circumstances involving the higher authority with the extra personnel put into key posts.