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Trial Opens In Dream Turned Tragedy

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI esilvestrini@tampatrib.com

The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 5, 2008

TAMPA - The first time he was attacked, Grigori Komissarchuk had gone to Home Depot to buy a fan.

As he approached his car, "Somebody hit me on the head and I fall to the ground," he recalled in his thick Russian accent. "They beat me up very strongly: face, stomach, bones, everything. Blood was running from my mouth and my nose. After this, I remember nothing."

Komissarchuk's son-in-law, Alex Shevgart, is standing trial, accused of orchestrating attacks on his wife's parents because they stopped giving him money after a series of failed businesses.

Komissarchuk was the first prosecution witness Tuesday, testifying in detail about his relationship with his son-in-law, three brutal attacks on him and his wife, Galina, and the eventual conclusion that Shevgart was behind them.

The Ukranian immigrant became emotional when describing his hospitalization after the first attack, weeping to the point that the judge called a recess.

"My condition was very bad," he said. "I was very screaming a lot with doctors around me all the time."

The couple suffered fractured skulls in the attacks in Brooklyn, N.Y., and Sarasota in 2006 and 2007, which often involved the use of a hammer, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Porcelli said Tuesday.

He described the story as "the American dream unfortunately turning into a family tragedy."

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Shevgart's attorney, Stephen J. Stanley, told jurors in opening statements that the prosecution will not be able to prove its case against the defendant. "The evidence in this case is going to be inconclusive, inconsistent and untrustworthy," Stanley said. "There was another theory in this case: The Italian mob was after Mr. Komissarchuk because of a lawsuit involving his son."

Porcelli told jurors that they will hear recordings of conversations between Shevgart and his father-in-law and between Shevgart and two other conspirators who have pleaded guilty, Larik Cholak and Sergey Zub.

In one conversation, after Grigori Komissarchuk concluded Shevgart was responsible, he telephoned Shevgart and said, "'I think you know the people that are attacking us,'" Porcelli said. "The defendant said maybe he did."

That was the last conversation the two had, Porcelli said.

Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837 or esilvestrini@tampatrib.com.

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