Family friend: Murdered soldier’s wife was former juicy bar worker; he was stealing money from work

The retired Army officer who murdered his Russian wife in their Italian home before taking his own life had been acting strangely prior to the murder-suicide, including keeping a knife under his pillow.

A former Major with the Southern European Task Force (SETAF), Bradley Kinser was a civilian contractor living out his post-military life with his wife of 15 years and a pet turtle.

However, on the first Monday of April, both he and his wife would be dead in what appeared to be a brutal murder-suicide.

Reportedly killed by suffocation, wife Leila Kinser died shortly before the former Major slit his own throat, writing a disturbing suicide note in his own blood.

Prior to the murder, Kinser revealed to his wife in November that he had been stealing money from his contracting firm- a serious offense.

“Leila didn’t know about it until he told her he was in trouble on Friday,” family friend Olessia Maximenko told Stars and Stripes.

“He said he’d rather kill himself than go to jail,” said Yulia Michenia, who also was friends with Leila Kinser.

At one point, Kinser released his beloved pet turtle -who traveled with him everywhere- into a nearby pond adjacent to a restaurant.

Changing his mind, the 43-year-old man jumped into the water to try and find his turtle, Mashka.

“It was Saturday afternoon,” a restaurant employee reported. “They tell me he searched. But we have too many turtles in the lake.”

After the incident, Leila expressed her sadness on social media.

“I don’t have any more my Mashka,” she wrote. “I want to die.”

Born in Russia, Leila met her husband while working as a cocktail waitress in a bar -commonly reffered to as juicy bars by service members- in Korea. Enamored with her, he took her all over the world and bought her the finest in clothing and accessories.

Prior to the murder, Mrs. Kinser had just returned from a solo trip to Miami, where she had spent a month in a friend’s condominium.

The last coworker to see Ret. Major Kinser alive reported that he was asleep at his desk and so disoriented that he had to be driven home.

The murder-suicide is still under investigation by Italian authorities.

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