The Daily Toreador - Student Newspaper of Texas Tech

Issue date: 1/29/02 Section: Regional News

PHOENIX (AP) - A plot to steal the ''fountain of youth'' apparently cost Konstantin Simberg his life at age 21.

Simberg was killed after he began serving as an informant on what police say was a scheme to steal a $1 million shipment of Saizen, a human growth hormone that can help slow the effects of aging and is sold on the black market for use by athletes.

Simberg's last telephone conversation with a detective was cut off with a scream just before his body - bound and showing signs of torture - turned up in the woods of northwestern Arizona last month.

Since then, authorities have charged three young men in the slaying. Two others have been charged with money laundering and other offenses and are under investigation in the killing.

''The twists and turns of this case have been just unbelievable,'' said Detective Tom Britt, Simberg's contact at the Phoenix Police Department.

Saizen, sometimes called the fountain of youth, replaces natural hormones such as testosterone that decline as people age beyond 40.

The alleged plot unraveled just months before the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Britt said police have no firm evidence of any plan to sell the hormone to athletes.

''But we always thought it was interesting that this was done right before the winter Olympics in Salt Lake City,'' he said. ''The timing was intriguing.''

Police say Troy Langdon, 28, the manager of Cactus Pharmacy, and friend Sean Southland, 33, hatched the plot to steal and sell 6,000 vials of Saizen, worth about $1 million wholesale and an estimated $3 million on the black market.

The two men allegedly hired Simberg and four others to steal the drug from a FedEx driver as he made his delivery to the Phoenix pharmacy on Sept. 24.

But instead of using a gun, Simberg offered the driver $50,000, Britt said. The driver refused and the group fled, but police soon began investigating Simberg.

Meanwhile, Langdon and Southland changed plans and quietly sold the Saizen to a medical company for about $926,000, Britt said.

The men also raised the pharmacy's insurance to $1 million, then had Simberg and three others break into the pharmacy to make it look as if there had been a robbery, Britt said. Langdon reported the hormones stolen and filed a claim for the insurance money the next day.

But using alarm records, police determined that no robbery had taken place and arrested Simberg, Langdon and Southland. The three were released as police gathered more evidence, Britt said Simberg began cooperating immediately.

Britt said he spoke to Simberg for the last time Dec. 14, a conversation that was cut short. The detective said he heard a scream on the other end of the line, the sounds of a brief struggle and then nothing.

''I thought, 'My God, did I actually just hear what I think I did?''' Britt said.

Hunters found Simberg's body two days later. He had been bound with duct tape, tortured and killed.

Dennis Tsoukanov, 20, has pleaded innocent to murder and kidnapping in the death. His two alleged accomplices, Mikhail Drachev and Chris Andrews, both 18, have disappeared.

Britt said police are also investigating whether Southland and Langdon were involved in the slaying.

In a separate indictment, Southland and Langdon were charged with offenses including money laundering and conspiracy to commit fraud and armed robbery. They are to be arraigned Feb. 5.

Langdon's attorney, Thomas Baker, said his client legally bought and sold the shipment of Saizen and had nothing to do with any attempted robbery or break-in. A lawyer for Southland did not return messages.

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