Mom Arrested in Murders of Famed Pianist's Daughters

Sofya Tsygankova is undergoing mental health evaluation
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 21, 2016 4:32 PM CDT
Mom Arrested in Murders of Famed Pianist's Daughters
In this 2014 file photo, award-winning concert pianist Vadym Kholodenko, poses with his wife Sofya Tsygankova and daughters Nika, 4, and Michela, at their home in Fort Worth, Texas.   (FORT WORTH WEEKLY, 360 WEST)

Texas police say they've arrested the estranged wife of an internationally renowned pianist on capital murder charges in the deaths of the couple's two young children. Benbrook Police Cmdr. David Babcock said Monday that police have served an arrest warrant on Sofya Tsygankova, the wife of the Ukranian pianist Vadym Kholodenko, the AP reports. Police found the couple's two children, 5-year-old Nika Kholodenko and 1-year-old Michela Kholodenko, slain in their beds Thursday in Benbrook, a suburb of Fort Worth. Authorities said Tsygankova was in an "extreme state of distress." She remains in a Fort Worth hospital for a mental health evaluation. Authorities say she suffered knife wounds. (More child murder stories.)

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