The Murder of Aisulu Zhambarbek

Aisulu Zhambarbek was a teenage college student in Almaty who disappeared while traveling home at the end of December 2013. Police were able to identify the taxi she had entered and arrested its driver, Vitaly Atapin. The case became widely reported in Kazakhstan because the investigation depended on tracing Aisulu's last journey and because Atapin changed his account during the court process before being convicted.

Disappearance and discovery

Aisulu left college on December 28, 2013 and did not arrive home. Contemporary reporting says relatives reported her missing the following day. Police and the family circulated information about her disappearance and established that she had entered a taxi for the trip home.

Her body was found outside Almaty in early January 2014. Kazinform's court report gives the discovery date as January 3, 2014. Contemporary outlets also differed on Aisulu's age, describing her as either 15 or 16. Because those reports conflict, this dossier identifies her as a teenage college student rather than presenting one age as uncontested fact.

The taxi investigation

Investigators traced the vehicle associated with Aisulu's last known trip and detained the driver, Vitaly Atapin. Police said he initially admitted killing her for financial gain after seeing money and her mobile phone. Reporting on the case says surveillance and phone-tracing evidence helped investigators reconstruct the taxi's movements and connect the vehicle to Aisulu's disappearance.

A changed account and additional investigation

During the court proceedings, Atapin changed his account and alleged that his niece and her partner were involved. The court sent the case for additional investigation in May 2014. Later reporting from the trial states that investigators did not substantiate the claimed involvement of the two relatives.

This distinction is important: the relatives were accused by Atapin during the proceedings, but the additional investigation did not establish their participation. They are therefore not described here as perpetrators or accomplices.

Conviction and sentence

On November 25, 2014, the specialized interdistrict criminal court in Almaty Region found Atapin guilty of murder and robbery. He received an 18-year prison sentence in a special-regime colony, along with confiscation of property and compensation orders. The court also treated him as a particularly dangerous repeat offender.

At the time of sentencing, Aisulu's family said the punishment was too lenient and was considering an appeal. The sources reviewed for this file do not document a later ruling overturning the conviction. A 2025 retrospective continued to describe Atapin as serving the same 18-year sentence, supporting the archive's Solved / Adjudicated classification.

Timeline

1. December 28, 2013
   Aisulu disappears

   She leaves college and takes a taxi for the trip home in Almaty.

2. December 29, 2013
   Missing-person report

   Her family reports her missing and information about the disappearance circulates publicly.

3. January 3, 2014
   Body recovered

   Kazinform's later court report records that Aisulu's body was found outside the city.

4. January 2014
   Taxi driver detained

   Police trace the taxi linked to her last journey and detain Vitaly Atapin.

5. May 2014
   Case sent for additional investigation

   After Atapin alleges that relatives were involved, the court orders further investigation; their participation is not substantiated.

6. November 25, 2014
   Conviction

   Atapin is convicted of murder and robbery and sentenced to 18 years.