Star-studded testimony from Patrick Roy and Gabriel Landeskog highlight explosive day in Semyon Varlamov civil trial

 

The Semyon Varlamov civil trial continued Thursday in a star-studded affair that saw a makeup artist become the center of attention in the case of the Colorado Avalanche star goaltender versus his ex-girlfriend. In case you haven’t been following along, make sure you check out our recaps from Tuesday and Wednesday.

The promised fireworks of a Patrick Roy appearance surely didn’t disappoint as the Avalanche Head Coach took the stand first thing Thursday morning. Roy’s testimony began by detailing the same meetings and process Greg Sherman described in his testimony Wednesday as the team learned of the criminal charges being brought against Varlamov in October, 2013.

Roy said as the team learned of the charges, the main members of the management team, Joe Sakic, Greg Sherman, Jean Martineau, and Charlotte Graham as well as himself, met at the Pepsi Center to discuss what they knew and called Varlamov in to meet them. Upon arriving, Varlamov told them his version of the events and the team discussed his options from there.

Roy said Varlamov had marks on his upper body from being punched by ex-girlfriend Evgeniya Vavrinyuk. Varlamov told Roy she had started the altercation by pushing and punching him and he was simply trying to protect himself when he “moved her aside” and then proceeded to try to lock himself in the second bedroom of the couple’s apartment. Varlamov was able to eventually separate himself from Vavrinyuk and she left the next morning.

When Varlamov’s lawyer arrived to the meeting a short time later, it was explained to Varlamov that he would be turning himself in and spending a night in jail. Roy told his goaltender “it won’t be a fun night” and he would “be a regular person”. Roy was initially concerned Varlamov would not be released in time to make the team’s flight to Dallas for a road game the next day.

While Varlamov did make the trip to Dallas, it became apparent something was wrong when Varlamov informed the team he did not want to play that night. Roy said he, along with Avalanche Head Trainer Matt Sokolowski, met with Varlamov, who described his night in jail as “not a good experience” and began to cry. Roy then grabbed Varlamov and told him he wanted Varlamov to “go lose the game for us then. Go play terrible and lose the game”, to which Varlamov responded with a defiant “I won’t lose this game” (Varlamov made 27 saves en route to a 3-2 Avalanche victory). Roy said he wanted to show his goaltender that, win or lose, he and the organization believed in him and he was their guy.

Roy was then dismissed from the stand, resting the plaintiff’s case, and Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog was called to the stand.

Landeskog’s entire testimony revolved around the team party at the Chophouse restaurant on October 28, 2013. He said he had met Vavrinyuk on one previous occasion, a brief meeting in Varlamov’s car on the way to the airport, and she seemed to be enjoying herself the night of the party. He noted she was dancing provocatively in front of Varlamov on the dance floor, as if she was seducing him.

Landeskog said he later shared a beer with Varlamov at the bar but was interrupted when Vavrinyuk came up and began yelling at Varlamov in Russian. According to Landeskog, Varlamov did not react outwardly to the outburst and Landeskog took the opportunity to exit the conversation and observe the couple from a distance, where he saw Vavrinyuk “storm off” and find a spot at the end of the bar to be alone.

Landeskog estimated there were about 35 people attending the team party and when shown the bar tab, it came out to 465 drinks, an average of 13 drinks per person, which the plaintiff used to imply the overall drunkenness of everyone at the party.

Landeskog was dismissed a short time later and Sheralyn Stout (her first name was not clarified so we’re uncertain of the spelling) was called to the stand. Stout is an event server at Chophouse and has worked there for the last 13 years.

Stout testified Vavrinyuk initially caught her eye upon arrival because of her Halloween costume, which was revealing in nature. When Varlamov and Vavrinyuk arrived, neither appeared intoxicated and both seemed to be having a good time early in the evening.

Vavrinyuk further distinguished herself in Stout’s mind when she began “sexy, grinding dancing” in front of Varlamov, who simply sat back and watched her. As the night carried on, Stout noted Vavrinyuk’s intoxication level increased to the point where she was stumbling around the bar, at one point becoming so disoriented she ended up in the main restaurant, which was closed at the time, slurring her words while looking for the bar where the team party was taking place. Stout pointed out Vavrinyuk was far from the only drunk person at the party, saying “a fair amount” had reached that threshold of intoxication.

Stout was dismissed soon afterwards and Diana Senova-Abrams (who will be referred to as Senova from here on) was called to the stand. Senova was the fiancee of Vavrinyuk’s initial attorney, Robert Abrams, and was the person Vavrinyuk turned to first after the incident with Varlamov.

Senova’s testimony began by saying she initially met Vavrinyuk on October 28, 2013 as she had received a text from Vavrinyuk seeking Senova’s services for makeup. Senova arrived at the apartment shared by Vavrinyuk and Varlamov, who were both present at the time along with a third person, Jay Khaletsky, at approximately 5:00 p.m. and was there approximately one hour as she did Vavrinyuk’s makeup. Senova then departed for the evening.

Vavrinyuk would then call Senova the next afternoon, telling her she been beaten up and, in a second phone call a few hours later, stated she had been thrown out by Varlamov and needed a place to go. Senova went to pick her up, took her to her Abrams’ law office to consult with Abrams about what to do. Vavrinyuk told Abrams the story and then signed a contract with Abrams stating she intended to sue Varlamo. According to Senova, Vavrinyuk explicitly stated she wanted to sue Varlamov, a contradiction to her own testimony.

Vavrinyuk then accompanied Senova back to her house, which she shared with Abrams, and began her approximate one month stay with the couple. When they began discussing going to the police on October 30, Vavrinyuk initially told Senova she had hit Varlamov first, to which Senova advised Vavrinyuk not to tell police that part. She would also confirm portions of Varlamov’s version of events, such as her initiating physical contact, her chasing him through the kitchen, and Varlamov locking himself in the second bedroom to get away from her.

In another contradiction to Vavrinyuk’s testimony, Senova testified Vavrinyuk was not hesitant to do media interviews and, due to having no money of her own, was very eager to receive payment for the appearances. In conversations about Varlamov, Senova says Vavrinyuk told her she was interested in receiving “a couple million bucks” and wanted to see him put in jail because “he was horrible.”

Senova said she quickly began questioning Vavrinyuk’s motives and character as Vavrinyuk settled into living with Senova and Abrams and began partying regularly, staying out until as late as 4 a.m. and drinking large amounts of wine while at the house.

Feeling weary of her house guest, Senova went to police in early December to talk to the District Attorney and tell the truth about everything she had seen and heard. Senova initially called the district attorney on December 6, 2013, to “unburden her soul”, met with the DA in person on December 10, and the case was summarily dismissed on December 13.

In a sometimes hostile cross-examination, a testy Senova defended her actions, saying she took in Vavrinyuk, a complete stranger, because she regularly worked with women and believed her story about having been beaten up. As time went on, she came to no longer trust or like Vavrinyuk and thus the relationship, which Senova pointed out was never a friendship, eventually dissolved.

Senova admitted to steering Vavrinyuk in the direction of lying to police but ultimately Vavrinyuk made her own choices on what to say.

Senova was dismissed and Yevgeniy “Jay” Khaletskiy, a masseuse who occasionally helped the Avalanche with player massages during busy times, was called to the stand as the final witness of the day. Up to this point, Khaletskiy has only been referred to as “Jay the masseuse” on numerous occasions.

The beginning of Khaletskiy’s testimony focuses on a series of Avalanche games he attended and brought wine to Vavrinyuk in the days leading up to the incident on the morning of October 29, 2013. During the second of these games, on October 27, Vavrinyuk struck up a conversation with Khaletskiy in which she asked him to talk to Varlamov about how women behave while on their periods. Khaletskiy agreed, and later drove Vavrinyuk home from the game. During that drive, Vavrinyuk expressed frustration to Khaletskiy about her relationship with Varlamov, going so far as to say she could do things that would make Varlamov “not a star”.

Khaletskiy’s story about the conversation with Vavrinyuk about women’s behavior while on their periods was something he had told Patrick Roy shortly after learning of the criminal charges filed against Varlamov. Roy had mentioned this same story in his testimony earlier in the day.

Khaletskiy then went on to reveal that in February of 2013, Varlamov had terminated the relationship with Vavrinyuk, sending her back to Russia. The night Varlamov ended things, Vavrinyuk had dinner with Khaletskiy and his family and talked at length about her complicated relationship with Varlamov, adding she wished to get revenge on Varlamov, saying “I’m going to ruin his life.”

Khaletskiy was dismissed and the day concluded. The civil trial continues this morning and is expected to see the defense call their final witness, Semyon Varlamov, to tell his side of the story. Look for more updates on the case here at BSNDenver.com and for live coverage, follow our twitter account @BSNAvalanche.