A Washington state man was found guilty of the murder of a transgender teen he met two years ago.
David Bogdanov, 27, faces 11 to 19 years behind bars after being found guilty Friday of strangling 17-year-old Nikki Kuhnhausen. Bogdanov met the teen in June 2019 in downtown Vancouver and had sex with her in his car before learning that she was transgender, court papers say.
Prosecutors said that he dumped her body down a hillside, and then booked a one way ticket to Ukraine, asking a friend to “get rid” of his car, according to court papers. Bogdanov had claimed his actions were in self-defense, and alleged Kuhnhausen pulled a loaded gun on him in the car.
Bogdanov’s defense team had argued he didn’t tell the truth to police, because he did not want his family to know that he had had sex with someone who was born male.
The verdict was applauded by Kuhnhausen’s family and supporters.
“We were all holding hands while we were awaiting the verdict to be read and that was really powerful,” Justice for Nikki task force member Linden Walls told the Columbian after the verdict was read “It felt like we were all together … and the sense of relief that came that we got justice for Nikki, that we were able to push this and the jury could see it and did the right thing. That felt really good.”
Bogdanov’s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 9.