Man held over death of wife and mother-in-law

A man was being held today on suspicion of killing his estranged wife and mother-in-law in a knife attack.

An eyewitness described seeing the suspect, named locally as Sergei Zolotovsky, 42, standing over the body of Latvian Svetlana Zolotovska holding a kitchen knife. Her throat had been cut.

Michael Herbert was confronted with a horrific scene after hearing a woman screaming near his home in Beckton, east London yesterday morning.

He ran to Stansfeld Road where he found a man dressed in black standing over the woman's body.

Mr Herbert, 47, said the man threatened him as he chased him across a park and down an alleyway to a house in nearby Leamouth Road.

The house had been set on fire and when riot police forced their way inside they found the victim's mother had also been fatally stabbed.

The suspect was arrested after being discovered in the loft where he had slashed his neck.

Detectives were last night preparing to interview Mr Zolotovsky who is under guard at an east London hospital.

They believe he ambushed his wife after she left home to go to work as a pharmacy technician at the private Wellington Hospital in St John's Wood, north-west London.

Colleagues said the couple were in the middle of a bitter divorce and Mr Zolotovsky had moved into another home a short distance from the scene of the attack.

Her mother, aged in her late 60s or early 70s, moved in three months ago to support her after the couple separated more than a year ago.

Mr Herbert, who had been cutting a hedge with a work colleague, said: "I heard screaming and went around the side of the building and saw him standing over the body.

"The guy was standing over the body with a knife in his hand and a woman was lying on the ground cut open. It was not a very nice scene to see.

"He stayed there for a few minutes and then he started running away from the scene, so two of us made chase.

"One of us gave up, but I carried on up an alleyway. When I got up here the house was on fire."

Describing how he came face-to-face with the knifeman, Mr Herbert added: "He threatened us, saying: 'Keep away, I've got a knife.' Then he carried on."

He added that he covered the woman's body with clothing before giving chase because it was "obvious" she had died.

Neighbours said police, dressed in protective uniforms, and dog handlers smashed their way into the semi-detached house at about 8am.

Firefighters said the first floor of the Leamouth Road home was badly damaged by the fire and smoke.

Marlon Da Silva, a fellow technician, said: "It is shocking for us. She is a well-known person. She was a really hard worker. A very reserved person.

"She came from Latvia. The only thing I can say is she has been working very hard in this country.

"She had some problems with her husband. She was in the process of going through a divorce. Her mother came here to support her."

A spokesman for the Wellington Hospital said staff were "deeply shocked" at the news. Mrs Zolotovska had worked for the private hospital for 18 months.

He said: "We are deeply shocked to hear of this tragedy. Svetlana was a well-liked and highly-valued member of staff and she will be missed by all who knew her.

"We would obviously pass on our deepest sympathies to her friends and family who have survived her."

Neighbour Ben Tilley, 28, said: "I have not seen him for about a year since he moved out. When they first moved here they were a nice couple, a pleasant couple.

"They were very house proud. Something happened a year ago and he moved out."

A 46-year-old neighbour, who didn't want to be named, said: "I used to see her going to work every day.

"I don't know where she worked. She dressed well, she was good looking. For a pretty woman to be rubbed out like that is terrible."

Documents filed with Companies House revealed suspect Mr Zolotovsky, who also spells his name Sergejs Zolotovskis, owns two companies.

Mr Z Mechanical Services Engineers Ltd, a construction and civil engineering firm, was established in 2004.

His wife was deleted from company records in 2008 when she was removed from her position as secretary.

A second company, Mr Z Pipework Ltd, was founded in November last year and originally based in Edmonton, north London.

Police have begun handing out leaflets to residents in the area of Stansfeld Road and Leamouth Road explaining their operation.

Stansfeld Road is a short distance from the scene of the murder of cleaner Ade Pukeliene, 57, in March 2008.

The Lithuanian widow was attacked by two men on a scooter in Emerald Close as she walked home from a nightshift.