2 men carve swastika in victim's forehead

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MOSCOW, March 6 (UPI) -- Two Russian men charged with murder Wednesday said they carved a swastika into their victim's forehead to make it appear skinheads had committed the crime.

Investigators said they believe the suspects, one 21, the other 18 and a student, stumbled across a sleeping man in a cemetery near Moscow, beat him to death with homemade Nunchakus [Japanese-style martial arts weapons] and carved the swastika in his forehead to trick police into searching for a skinhead suspect, Moscow's RIA Novosti reported.

The slaying occurred on April 30, Walpurgis Night, a pagan holiday when evil creatures are said to walk the world. Police said the suspects had long been interested in the occult.

Investigators said interrogation had disclosed one of the men had slain an acquaintance in 2010, "beheading him and placing his head on an anthill and his body in a pit". It is not clear which suspect police believed committed the killing.

The suspects will be tried separately and a court will, in the near future, rule on the possibility of psychiatric treatment and medication for the men, RIA Novosti said.