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Suspect Arrested In Olympic Figure Skater's Stabbing Death

Denis Ten was stabbed to death when two men tried to steal his car mirrors in Almaty, Kazakhstan, authorities say. 

By Ethan Harfenist

A man in Kazakhstan has confessed to killing Olympic figure skater Denis Ten, authorities said Friday.

Prosecutor Berik Zhuyrektayev revealed that a man named Nuraly Kiyasov "confessed his guilt in the presence of an attorney" during a round of questioning in Almaty, Kazakhstan, according to the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, AP reported that authorities are also searching for a man named Arman Kudaibergenov in connection with the 25-year-old's murder.

Ten was stabbed to death on Thursday after two men tried to swipe his car mirrors in Almaty, Kazakh news portal Kazinform reported. A particularly nasty stab wound to his thigh resulted in Ten losing three liters of blood, and he died in hospital due to blood loss.

Prosecutors are treating Ten's death as a murder and, according to AP, Kiyasov was escorted by a security outfit to the crime scene on Friday as part of the investigation.

All over Kazakhstan and the rest of the world, people are mourning Ten's death. He was a source of national pride after winning a bronze medal at the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014—the first Kazakh figure skater to ever do so.

American figure skater Adam Rippon took to Twitter to pay tribute to his friend, saying he was "a huge inspiration to me an so many other people."

Further, Ten was working on a film script about his exploits at the time of his death. Kazakh-Russian director Timur Bekmambetov said he would realize Ten's vision and make a movie based on the script.

“We’re definitely going to try to realize his idea and shoot a film dedicated to this multi-talented person,” Bekmambetov said in a statement released by Kazakhstan's embassy to Russia, as quoted by AP. "In his 25 years, Ten managed to do very much and had grand plans which he would surely have put into practice because he was a real hard worker."

[Photo: Getty]

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