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The Fake Dentist Murder
by Winston Ross
Winston Ross is a reporter for the Register-Guard in Eugene, Oregon and a regular contributor to Newsweek.com.
Ross William Hamilton / The Oregonian
A bizarre murder probe involving a yanked molar and a corpse has gripped the Pacific Northwest. Winston Ross on the scariest dentist story since Marathon Man.
Tanya Krivolapova filed a complaint last February with the Oregon Board of Dentistry, one of hundreds of such gripes the board receives each year. Most of them involve a billing dispute or a botched filling. But Krivolapova’s claim was different. She alleged that an unlicensed dentist named Victor or Viktor Kozhevnikova pulled a molar from the mouth of her brother, Pavel Krivolapov, and that the jaw became infected, requiring Pavel to be hospitalized. In registering the complaint, Krivolapova asked that she and her brother’s names be kept confidential; she feared retaliation, she said.
The filing seemed outlandish. But it might not be as crazy as it sounds.
Investigators found puzzling evidence: a dentist’s chair, an X-ray machine, the kind of vest patients wear to block radiation, and a man who spoke little English.
Last month, police in the Portland suburb of Gresham responded to a 911 dispatch about a man who had called one of his family members to say he was being held at gunpoint, in the same building where Krivolapova’s brother had his molar yanked.
When the cops got to the scene, they found the body of Viktor Merezhnikov, a 47-year-old immigrant from the former Soviet Union, shot in the abdomen, slumped over in one of a row of chairs, lined up as if in a waiting room.
As the investigators perused the rest of the house, they found more puzzling evidence: a dentist’s chair, an X-ray machine, the kind of vest patients wear to block radiation, a collection of dental tools, medication, and a man who spoke little English. Police identified him as 79-year-old Viktor Gregorevich Gebauer.
Multnomah County prosecutor Chris Ramras filed murder charges against Gebauer. He hasn’t suggested a possible motive. Gebauer told police he shot Merezhnikov after he tried to rob him. He has pleaded not guilty. His trial is set for April 19.
Practicing dentistry without a license is a rare but reoccurring phenomenon, says Paul Kleinstub, chief investigator and dental director at the Oregon Board of Dentistry. It tends to happen in Hispanic, Russian, and Slavic communities where the practitioners may have dental experience but don't have Social Security numbers, which are required for licensing. “They typically work on a cash basis,” Kleinstub said.
Cases that end in murder are rarer still, but authorities are investigating whether this Oregon man of Russian extraction may have used multiple names to carry out an illegal practice, a case that is fascinating people in the Pacific Northwest and stoking fears not seen since Laurence Olivier’s terrifying performance in the hit 1976 movie Marathon Man.
Gebauer’s motives remain unclear, but Kleinstub said he has plenty of reason to believe his fake dentistry outfit has been around for awhile. The first clue was an online comment attached to one of the newspaper stories written about the killing.
It said something about Gebauer being a dentist, Kleinstub said. “All of a sudden, it clicked,” Kleinstub said. “The light went on.”
Back in 2009, board investigator Daryll E. Ross had done some extensive research on Krivolapova’s case.
Ross went to 142 N.E. 192nd Street, and photographed a Range Rover at the property, and ran the plates with the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles. The car was registered to Nadine Victoria Lepesh.
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Winston Ross is a reporter for the Register-Guard in Eugene, Oregon and a regular contributor to Newsweek.com.
DicedPeas
Its horrifying that someone could pass themselves off as a dentist and it is only a misdemeanor!
Creepily, I saw a dentist very much like this guy a few years ago. Even though it was in another part of the country, I swear it was the same guy.
I had moved to a new town and had a dental emergency and there was dentist right around the corner. I stopped in to ask if he could squeeze me in.
The Russian doctor was at the reception desk. He looked in my mouth and said yes he could replace the broken filling. I sat in a chair in the waiting room and it got surreal.
He picked up the phone and called a patient and verbally harassed them for payment. Scary. The was one other person already waiting, a middle aged woman, she wasn't bothered by the yelling. After the "dentist" slammed down the phone he harshly asked the other woman her name. I don't remember her name but it was very simple, like Mary Davis or Ann Jones. He yelled at her to speak clearer and slower. So she did. Then he yelled at her to talk faster, because he "didn't have all day." He kept asking her to repeat a letter that he couldn't understand--she was oddly patient with him.
Suddenly he went ballistic and started screaming, "I can no understand you when you no speak English right! Speak English, G*d damn it! You stupid?" (for the record, she was American and her English had no regional dialect). Then he proceeded to throw things from the reception desk around the room while screaming expletives.
After about 5 minutes he finally yelled, "F*cking forget it!" He calmed down somewhat asked her for payment in cash and took her into the back room.
As soon as he was out of sight, I ran for the door. Scariest day of my life. If he had pulled out a gun I would not have been surprised.
bmcvegas
Your story could be expanded into a horror film....
flyoverland
Winston,
the scariest dentist in the history of America was Dr. Glennon Engleman, of St. Louis. He systematically murdered a number of wealthy victims in intricately planned schemes to gain their money. Look it up, it will curl your hair. He was a real dentist and makes this guy look like a jaywalker.
DakLak
Wouldn't happen under Obamacare!
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