Fugitive in custody after lover ‘googled’ his name

A FIVE-YEAR hunt for a man accused of killing a police informant in Phoenix, Arizona ended in Toronto thanks to a “courageous” young woman who turned in her boyfriend.

Mikhail Drachev, 24, who has been on the run since the “horrific” slaying of Konstantin Simberg in December 2001, was arrested by police in the apartment the pair had been sharing for more than five years.

“About a week ago, he decided to come clean and give her his real name because they were thinking about marriage,” Staff-Sgt Paul MacIntyre said yesterday. “She googled his name and learned he was on America’s Most Wanted.”

The fugitive’s girlfriend, whose name was not released, was initially “conflicted,” MacIntyre said. Although it took her a week to tell police, she eventually “did the right thing” and should be commended, he said.

“She was with this fellow for a long time, and obviously they were very close,” MacIntyre said. “The fact that she came in to a (police) station and told us who he was showed tremendous courage on her behalf.”

Drachev and two other men are accused of attacking Simberg, 21, while he was on the phone with a cop. He was stabbed in the back, doused with gas and set ablaze.

It’s now believed Drachev fled Arizona to Ottawa, where the couple met before moving to Toronto

MacIntyre said he didn’t know if the woman is standing by her man or walking away.

“If she wants to continue the relationship, I would guess she’ll have to move down south,” he said.