7:30 - June 5, 2008
Former Wharton undergraduate Irina Malinovskaya pleaded no contest today to manslaughter charges in the death of Irina Zlotnikov, her ex-boyfriend's then-girlfriend, according to the Associated Press.
By pleading no contest, Malinovskaya is not admitting guilt but is conceding that there is enough evidence for a conviction. According to the AP, she was sentenced to five years in jail with credit for time served today by a Delaware Superior Court President Judge James Vaughn and will be released in 10 months.
The Russian student, who allegedly bludgeoned Klotnikov - a Temple student - to death in 2004, has been tried three times, each time resulting in a mistrial.
Her first trial, which ended in February of 2006, resulted in an 11-1 hung jury in favor of acquittal. In October of the same year, the second trial ended in a 6-6 deadlock. The third trial, which ended last November, resulted in a 10-2 decision in favor of conviction of second-degree murder and 8-4 for first-degree murder after 11 days of deliberation.
It was uncertain whether the prosecutors would seek a fourth trial.
*This article was updated at 4:35 pm on Friday June 6,2008 to reflect that Irina Malinovskaya is no longer a student at Penn.
