- Mark Mershikov stabbed Claribel Estrella and posted a video on Facebook showing her dying, authorities said.
- Mr. Melkov was charged with murder.
- He was arrested after someone saw the video on Facebook and called authorities.
A California man accused of murdering a woman in 2023 and posting footage of the victim’s death on Facebook revealed in court last week that his subsequent purported confession was actually generated by artificial intelligence. authorities said that it had been done by him.
Mark Mershikov was arrested on suspicion of stabbing Claribel Estrella in San Mateo, California, in July 2023 and posting the gruesome video of the incident on Facebook, San Mateo police said at the time.
Melkov was charged with murder. He pleaded not guilty at a court appearance in August, KRON 4 reported.
“Melkov brutally filmed the final moments of the victim’s life and posted the video to Facebook before fleeing the area,” San Mateo Police said in a July 2023 statement.
On Friday, more than six months after his arrest, authorities announced that Melkov made the bizarre claim at a preliminary hearing that his alleged confession was the creation of artificial intelligence, according to KRON 4.
“During the hearing, the defendant shouted in court that he had killed the victim, but his confession was generated by AI (artificial intelligence),” prosecutors wrote.
It was not immediately clear when or where the confession took place.
In the July 2023 incident, police received a call from the Nye County, Nevada Sheriff’s Office about a report of a person who witnessed a “stabbing” on Facebook, and the witness provided the poster’s name and phone number. announced the authorities at the time. The video is said to have been later identified as Melkov.
Authorities in Nevada tracked Melkov to San Mateo, notified police there, and then arrested him, authorities said.
Police said Melkov and Estrella knew each other, but authorities have not disclosed the nature of their relationship.
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District Attorney Stephen Wagstaff previously claimed Melkov “felt some kind of pride” in carrying out the killings, according to KRON 4.
Wagstaff said social media posts could be an aggravating circumstance in a murder charge. San Mateo Daily News Reported in August.
“It’s especially callous that he posted on Facebook of a dying victim who had just been stabbed. That’s an aggravating factor in the prosecution of this case,” Wagstaff said.
