Fiancée of Brit millionaire 'Mr Bling of Marbella' shot dead by model claims rival ordered killing & fears she's next

THE fiancée of a British millionaire shot dead by his model ex-girlfriend claims a business rival ordered his killing and fears she may be next.

Maria Korotaeva, 27, said husband-to-be Andrew Bush – known as 'Mr Bling of Marbella' – had received death threats in the weeks leading up to his murder and a jewellery competitor could have ordered the hit.


Slovakian national Mayka Kukucova, 31, waited in the bed of the Bristol businessman at his Spanish villa before fatally shooting him three times in 2014.

She escaped to her home country 2,000 miles away but was caught and then jailed for 15 years in May 2016. She then had her sentence reduced the following year to 13 years' imprisonment.

But Maria now claims she thinks Kukucova was instructed to carry out the killing over Bush's plans to establish a jewellery business in London, The Mirror reports.

In a new tell-all book, Maria says: "A couple of weeks before his murder, Andy was in Germany at a jewellers conference.

"He came back really upset, saying that someone – a rival entrepreneur, I think – was threatening him because of his plans.

"We think Mayka was told if she did the murder she would get three or four years."


Maria said Bush had proposed to her at dinner on the night of his murder.

He then drove them home in his £60,000 gold-plated Humvee 4×4, unaware that swimwear model Kukucova was lying in wait armed with a .38 revolver.

She shot Bush three times – twice in the head – in what a Malaga court said was the revenge of a jealous lover.

But Russian businesswoman Maria thinks the killing by Kukucova was a hit and now fears her own life could be at risk.

"I’m now worried she may come find me when she gets out. God knows what she is thinking. What is in her head?" she said.

Maria said she nor Bush reported the threats made to him to the police because "they didn't take them seriously" at the time.


Bush and Kukucova got together in 2012 after she started working at his Gold Trader shop in Bristol.

They were together for two years but later split, and months later he met Maria, who was studying for a business and human resources degree in the UK.

An inquest into Bush's death heard how in April 2014 he had jetted out to his five-bedroom villa in Estepona, 18 miles down the coast from Marbella, with Maria.

On the night of the murder, the couple had been out for dinner and Bush had asked Maria to marry him.

She says in the book: "Twenty minutes before he was killed, he proposed to me."

Maria says she found Kukucova in Bush's bed and he had told his new partner to go to the car and phone the police, after his model ex refused to leave.

But, an argument broke out between Bush and Kukucova, then Maria heard three gunshots – and later found her partner in a pool of blood.

The inquest at Avon Coroner's Court in Bristol, ruled that Bush was murdered by Kukucova.

Maria, whose phone had run out of battery so she was unable to call for help, says: "I remember we were sitting in Andy’s Hummer outside the house.

"I went in first and as I entered, I saw that dirty dishes were lying on the table and I knew that they weren’t mine.

"I knew someone was in so I went to the second floor and I saw Mayka in her pyjamas.

"It was the first time I had ever seen her. She looked at me with no emotion whatsoever.

"I got scared and I just screamed. I ran outside and back to the car."

She adds: "I’ve never heard gunshots so I didn’t know what it was.

"I thought it was just something heavy dropping, like a suitcase down the stairs.

"Mayka came out fully dressed, with her hair in a ponytail and carrying a suitcase. She told me that Andy had said she could take the car."

'TERRIFYING'

Kukucova drove off and Maria realised she was locked out of the house.

It took three hours to gain access and once inside she discovered her lover's body.

She says: "I saw him on the floor. I know that I saw it but I don’t remember it. It’s been blocked from my mind."

Maria, who runs a property business as well as being a singer and writer, says she feared the bikini model might come back for her.

She adds: "During that time, I felt my life was in danger.

"She spent three days on the run and I didn’t know where she was. I was the only witness and I thought my life was under threat.

"I had no security or guards or police. It was terrifying."

I’m now worried she may come find me when she gets out. God knows what she is thinking. What is in her head?

Kukucova drove across Europe to her home town in Slovakia before handing herself in to police.

At trial she claimed she acted in self-defence but this was unanimously rejected by the jury.

The ordeal left Maria with depression for 18 months and she fears "dangerous" Kukucova will come after her when she is released.

Maria says: "It’s already been seven years. There’s not very long left until she comes out.

"I’m worried that she may come and find me. What stops her? Nothing. You can find me easily because of my social media."


After a brief stint in Tenerife and a short time living in the UK, Maria now lives in Russia where she wrote her story during lockdown.

She hopes the book will be released in Britain and give people the truth about what happened.

She says: "There was a 30-year age difference between myself and Andy and people were judgmental about that.

"But I wanted to tell the truth. It was always my idea to write the book. I always wanted to do it but I couldn’t because of the court case.

"I wanted to tell girls how to deal with the loss of your partner, the loss of your love and how to deal with the psychological trauma.

"It’s also about how to come out stronger and healthier."

Maria, who later got married but divorce two years later, adds: "Andrew was the love of my life, that’s why it was so hard for me to move on.

"I want our love – our story – to be remembered. I’ve moved on and I’ve become stronger, but I don’t want to forget him."

The couple had plans to move to London together after she had finished her degree at UWE in Bristol.

Bush also left behind an ex-wife, Samantha, and daughter, Ellie Mason Bush.

    Source: Read Full Article

    Previous post Police seek witnesses after Mercedes Benz crashes, spins on Auckland motorway off-ramp
    Next post The creepy woods you can visit in the UK which inspired Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter