A British millionaire, whose family has claimed he was murdered by his Ukrainian bride in Kiev so she could inherit his fortune, was unlawfully killed, a coroner has found.

Barry Pring, 47, died after celebrating his first wedding anniversary with his wife Ganna Ziuzina, 20 years his junior, in February 2008.

Pring’s inquest was told Ziuzina led him to the edge of a dual carriageway after dinner to hail a taxi and then went back into the restaurant to collect a glove she had left inside. Moments later Pring was killed instantly when he was hit by a speeding vehicle with no headlights.

The case was initially investigated by the Ukrainian authorities as an unexplained accident but was reclassified as murder in 2011 amid concerns from the family that Pring was the victim of a contract killing.



His relatives have since spent about £100,000 on a private investigator to find out what happened but claim they have been denied justice.

The coroner said she found that Pring had been unlawfully killed though she did not spell out whowas responsible. Dr Elizabeth Earland said: “His guard was lowered by inebriation. The car had stolen licence plates and did not brake or stop.

“I am satisfied that having heard all the evidence … much of it circumstantial, nevertheless, in my view it is overwhelming. I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Barry John Pring has been unlawfully killed.” She said Pring had been “tricked” into standing on the westbound carriageway of the busy road.

The inquest heard that Pring met Ziuzina on a website, www.elenasmodels.com, which describes itself as an “online Russian and Ukrainian dating site for men who are looking for single women and girls for friendship, relationship and marriage”.

After her husband’s death, Ziuzina travelled to London, sold her husband’s Range Rover and the contents of his apartment and removed money from his British bank account.

DC Jonathan Watts, from Devon and Cornwall police, said he was in London looking for Ziuzina last week but it was likely she was abroad.

He said the force had not been able to question witnesses directly or the Ukrainian police but details passed to him through Interpol included information from witnesses who described the vehicle that hit Pring as travelling at high speed with no lights.

Stolen number plates found at the scene came from a vehicle parked near where Ziuzina had lived in Kiev in 2007, “giving rise to the assumption that the act was pre-planned”, he said.

Watts added: “Witnesses describe a car travelling at 75mph. There was no evidence of braking or slowing before the car left the scene. Witnesses recorded their impression that it was deliberate.”

Speaking after the hearing, Pring’s brother Shaughan said the family’s fight for justice would continue. He said: “It is the verdict we expected. However, it is still not going to get us justice for Barry.”

At the inquest in Exeter, Devon, Pring’s family alleged his wife, who has worked as a lap dancer and stripper, was involved in the hit-and-run incident.

In a statement read to the court, Pring’s mother, Irene, said: “We are sure that Ganna had some involvement in Barry’s death to get an inheritance.”

The businessman, who was from Devon but living in London at the time, owned five properties and was worth an estimated £1.5m.

His family told the hearing they had been suspicious of Ziuzina from the outset, describing her as “cold” and “not loving or caring” towards Pring.

They said the couple married after a four-day engagement. Initially they had been told she was a teacher and expected her to be shy, and when they met her were shocked that she looked like a model.

Pring’s best friend, lawyer Peter Clifford, told the court he was sure Ziuzina was involved in his death. He said: “There is no reasonable doubt in my mind that Barry was murdered. Nor is there any doubt that GZ arranged for, or was complicit in his murder.”

Clifford told the court he had been invited to the couple’s wedding in Kiev in 2007.

He described his friend as “hopelessly under GZ’s control” and “infatuated”, but said the wedding celebrations were “unnatural and false”.

When out for dinner on another occasion with the couple, Clifford said Ziuzina had told him: “Local police are corrupt and if one pays them, one can get away with anything.”

The court heard that Ziuzina phoned Pring’s brother to tell him about the incident after his death. Shaughan said he was instantly left “confused and suspicious”.

He told the court: “I received a call saying, ‘There has been a terrible accident, prepare yourself – Barry is dead’. Ganna went on to tell me that she had been stood right next to him when he was hit by a car. What I had been told and the way it had been delivered left me confused and a little suspicious.”

The court heard that when Ziuzina later spoke to Pring’s mother, she changed her account and said she was not by his side. Ziuzina did not attend Pring’s funeral.

Ziuzina did not appear at the inquest though the court had asked her to attend. In a statement she said she had nothing to add to what she told police in Kiev.