[4] Kadamovas and Mikhel remained on federal death row until their sentences were commuted to life without parole by President Joe Biden on December 23, 2024.

[6] Both men were foreign nationals who emigrated to the United States and lived in Los Angeles, California.

The men owned a joint business called Designed Water World, which was a fish aquarium store located on Ventura Boulevard.

[7] In October 2001, Kadamovas and Mikhel came up with a plan to lure and kidnap 58-year-old Meyer Muscatel, a local real-estate developer.

Muscatel was then injected with diphenhydramine and pinned to the ground, where Mikhel placed a plastic bag over his head and suffocated him to death.

In December 2001, the pair abducted Safiev's financial advisor, 39-year-old Rita Pekler, who was pregnant at the time.

She was lured to his Sherman Oaks home where Mikhel, armed with a handgun and stun gun, was waiting with two other accomplices.

Umansky was held captive in the house for three days, during which he was forced to call his brother and beg for money to secure his release.

[9][11] In January 2002, Kadamovas and Mikhel decided to target Safiev again, as he had returned from a trip and was back in Los Angeles.

Kharabadze was contacted and asked to meet at a private club, which was actually the aquarium store owned by Kadamovas and Mikhel.

Both hostages were then taken to Kadamovas' house, where they made Safiev call another business partner of his and plead with him to transfer $940,000 to a foreign account.

[12] The FBI wire-tapped the phones of Kadamovas and Mikhel and recorded them discussing ransom money.

The data showed both men had been driving north on Highway 99 toward the New Melones Lake on the days each victim had died.

Muscatel's body had been carried to the edge of the Parrotts Ferry Bridge and was accidentally dropped on a curb where it had left blood stains.

Mikhel and an accomplice had used Umansky's debit card to withdraw money from an ATM which had been captured on video by a surveillance camera.

Mikhel had also used Kharabadze's and Safiev's ATM cards to withdraw money and was caught on video from surveillance cameras once again.

The FBI also searched the homes of both men and found physical evidence linking them to the crimes, including ransom notes and weapons.

[16] U.S. District Judge Dickran Tevrizian formally sentenced both men and called the murders brutal, adding that "the methods in which the individuals were killed, the perpetrators showed no mercy".

Ainar Altmanis, who admitted to participating in the kidnappings of Umansky, Kharabadze and Safiev, and that he took part in suffocating Umansky and Kharabadze, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to take hostages resulting in death and three counts of hostage taking resulting in death.

In exchange for leading the police to the bodies and becoming a key witness against Kadamovas and Mikhel, Altmanis received a substantial assistance specification, allowing him to avoid an otherwise mandatory life sentence.

Aleksejus Markovskis, who stood guard over two of the victims during their abductions, pleaded guilty to counts of conspiracy to take hostages resulting in death.

Federal prosecutors sought a death sentence for Krylov, but his attorneys convinced the jury to spare his life by arguing that he'd participated in the murders out of duress.

[22][23] Their death sentences were commuted by President Joe Biden on December 23, 2024, and reduced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.