The end of Napoleon. All the participants belonged to one community – deaf-mute disabled individuals.

      The day before, a storm raged on the island, the wind knocked down trees and beat violently against the windows, while on his deathbed, the deposed emperor lived his last hours. In the neighboring rooms were envoys from France, Austria, and Russia. Only a doctor, a priest, Count de Montolon, and servant Marchand were near the dying man.

      On the night of May 5, the suffering intensified to the point that he fell from his bed in a semi-delirious state and convulsively, with unprecedented strength, gripped the hand of Count de Montolon, knocking him to the floor. Napoleon was lifted and placed back on the bed. He never regained consciousness, lying motionless for several hours with his eyes open and not even groaning. The last words that those standing close to the bed could hear were: "France... army... vanguard...".

      Deaf people.

      Hardly anyone among us has heard of the small island of Saint Helena, lost in the vastness of the Atlantic Ocean, if exactly 205 years ago the Emperor of France Napoleon I Bonaparte had not died here. How many commanders and rulers have passed away since then, but perhaps only the details of his death are known to the whole world. And this name has been mentioned in vain more often than all other names since then. For example, a familiar psychiatrist told me that several generations of Napoleons have changed in the Nizhny Novgorod psychoneurological dispensary under his jurisdiction. Now and then, such nicknames surface in the criminal environment. They call Napoleons not only those who are of equal height to the "little corporal," but mainly those who have become famous in their circles for their excessive ambitions and conquests.

      The nickname Napoleon was held by a third-group disabled deaf-mute resident of the city of Penza, who was known in his community of similar disabled individuals as a fierce extortionist, deceiver, and usurper of others' goods. By the day in question, Napoleon had accumulated quite a few enemies thirsting for revenge.

      I will explain about the "All-Russian Society of the Deaf" (VOG) – the largest organization in Russia uniting citizens with hearing impairments, which is celebrating its centenary this year, everyone knows. But one of the projects in this area is the news portal "Deaf.net."

      It was created in 2008 and became one of the first news portals aimed at deaf and hard-of-hearing people. The portal publishes news, reports, interviews, as well as materials about the lives and problems of people with hearing impairments. The project has a community of visitors on "VKontakte." And that’s where all the deaf people of the country communicate! It turns out they have not only their own language – their own culture, their own laws... It’s like a state within a state, a kind of diaspora of the deaf, about whom we do not even know. Or do not want to know. Until a crime like the one that occurred in the Avtozavodsky district brings them into the media space.

      Holy Thursday.

      The tragedy occurred on April 9, on Holy Thursday of Holy Week, which precedes Easter. For those who do not know, despite the abundance of affairs, according to sacred scripture, Holy Thursday is also a time of strict restrictions. Among the seven prohibitions considered sinful, there is one: you cannot quarrel, curse, or speak foully. On the day when Christ showed the highest humility, any negativity is a grave sin. Moreover, the church annually reminds Orthodox Christians that "the purity of the soul is more important than the purity of the home," prescribing to spend this day in a Christian manner: to confess and take communion, to reconcile with those with whom one is at odds, to forgive grievances...

      The house where the tragedy occurred is an ordinary nine-story panel building. It is not a new building; almost all the neighbors know each other, so the loud murder that happened in the house on April 9 is still being discussed. The lonely deaf-mute neighbor is referred to among the residents as the Mute. It was said that he used to have a cohabitant – also "one of their own," but she passed away not long ago. He had few friends, their gatherings were quiet, so if they did drink, there were never complaints about the company.

      That night, he also had guests. The future victim was among them.

      And in the morning, when people were heading to work, a horrific scene unfolded: on the blood-soaked floor of the stairwell near the elevator lay the sprawled body of a man.

      – Napoleon arrived in Nizhny from Penza to visit a friend a few days before the incident, – says investigator Yulia Ruskiy from the Investigative Department for the Avtozavodsky District of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Nizhny Novgorod Region, senior lieutenant of justice. – Apparently, the suspects planned the crime; they had been watching him the day before. They tracked him down and waited "in ambush" in the evening for him to leave the apartment. Armed with bats in advance, they apparently beat him "like adults"...

      From the materials of the criminal case:

      "According to the investigation, on April 9, 2026, the accused, being on the stairwell of a multi-apartment building located on Strokina Street in Nizhny Novgorod, on the grounds of a previously existing conflict, brutally beat a resident of the Penza region, inflicting multiple blows to his head and torso, after which they fled... From the bodily injuries sustained, the victim died at the scene of the incident...".

      "A Quiet Murder".

      As retired police colonel Evgeny Makarov told the journalist, people with hearing and speech impairments are "a separate social group with their own laws and survival system, and this group is very cohesive." Law enforcement officials believe that using deaf-mutes in criminal matters is advantageous because the investigation, due to their health issues, will drag on for a long time and may end with a suspended sentence, as the defendants are disabled.

      – In my youth, I worked at an auto plant. There was a separate line where deaf-mutes worked. They were tough guys, – recalls the colonel. – If they had conflicts among themselves or with hearing workers, they fought to the end. We attributed their brutality to the fact that they do not hear cries of pain and cannot understand when to stop...

      However, none of that generation of police officers recalls that even in the "wild 90s," organized criminal groups of deaf-mutes existed in Nizhny Novgorod. Although individual crimes involving them occasionally occurred...

      ...Due to the fact that all participants in the altercation were deaf-mute, no one heard anything, and the residents of the house dubbed this loud crime a "quiet murder." The official representative of the Nizhny Novgorod branch of the All-Russian Society of the Deaf, Anastasia Galkina, refrained from commenting:

      – Contact the investigator...

      A criminal case was initiated regarding the incident under the article on murder committed by a group of individuals. Employees of the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for Nizhny Novgorod, together with colleagues from the 19th Department of the Main Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, conducted a complex of operational-search activities. As part of a business trip to the Moscow region, with the forceful support of the capital's National Guard, all six suspects were detained after a month.

      – We gathered them from all over the Moscow region, – continues Yulia Denisovna. – Some were taken in Khimki, some in Kolomna, some in Lobnya...

      The detainees are two men aged 31, two aged 43, one 37-year-old man, and one 29-year-old. All detainees are residents of the Moscow and Vologda regions. They had not been previously convicted.

      The investigation is ongoing...

      Those who stand guard over the law do not have days off. On Victory Day, May 9, the Avtozavodsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod, at its session, made a decision to arrest all six detainees, who have been charged with murder. As reported by the press service of the regional court, the hearings on the choice of preventive measure were conducted with the involvement of a sign language interpreter, as all the accused are deaf or hard of hearing. The preventive measure of detention has been established until June 8 inclusive. The deceased in Penza left behind a wife and two children – also hard of hearing, childhood disabled of the 3rd group.

      – All the detainees, of course, say during interrogations that they "did not intend to kill," they only wanted to "punish for bad behavior," to leave him crippled, – my interlocutor is no less shocked by the brutality with which the group of men beat one.

      – Currently, the investigative authorities continue to work on gathering evidence, conducting interviews with neighbors, and clarifying the circumstances of the incident. Given that both the victim and the accused belong to the category of persons with disabilities, the process is conducted with the assistance of social services and with the mandatory participation of a sign language interpreter. Final conclusions about the degree of guilt of each participant will be formulated after all examinations are completed, – senior assistant to the head of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Nizhny Novgorod Region, lieutenant colon