An unofficial source in the USSR reports that Aleksandr Shovkoplyas was sentenced to death by Dnepropetrovsk Regional Court in the Ukraine on 31 October 1990. He had been convicted of murder and assault with attempt to rob. The court is said to have referred the case for investigation three times before finally convicting him. An appeal against the sentence was rejected by the Criminal Cases Collegium of the Ukrainian Supreme Court on 23 April 1991. It is not known if Aleksandr Shovkoplyas has petitioned for clemency. At present he is being held on death row in a prison in Dnepropetrovsk.