This story could have been a script for a soap opera – a wealthy millionaire, a luxurious villa on the Spanish coast, and a love triangle that ended in murder. Unfortunately, the roles were not played by Hollywood actors, but by a British jewelry magnate, a Slovak top model, and a Russian student named Maria Korotaeva.
On the evening of April 4, 2014, the young woman became a happy fiancée and, just a few minutes later, the main witness to a cold-blooded murder.
AN EUROPEAN FAIRY TALE FOR AN URAL PRINCESS
Maria Korotaeva was born in Yekaterinburg into a family of entrepreneurs and was prepared for life abroad from an early age. By the age of 14, she was already fluent in English and Spanish. After attending a Catholic girls’ school in Bristol and college, she enrolled at the University of the West of England, where she studied economics and management, while also working part-time as a nightclub manager.
But everything changed after she met 48-year-old Andrew Bush. A fit Briton, the owner of a chain of jewelry stores, he won the heart of the Ural student in a matter of days.
“I was meeting a friend at a coffee shop. She was buying a gift at a jewelry store that day and was impressed by the owner. She said he was tall, muscular, and drove a blue Bentley,” Maria recounts. “I was surprised: ‘A Bentley? Here in Bristol?’ We sat, chatted. I was getting ready to go home, went outside. It was quite cold, and I was in leggings and a light fur coat. I stood at the crossroads in the rain like a frozen chicken, waiting for a taxi. And suddenly I felt someone was watching me. I looked, and there was that same Bentley by the roadside with a tall man behind the wheel. I immediately realized it was the one my friend had told me about,” recalls Maria Korotaeva.
Maria was preparing to become the wife of an English millionaire. Photo: social media
Their romance developed rapidly. But before Maria, Bush had a serious relationship with 24-year-old Slovak model Majka Cuchová. The couple’s breakup became known a few months before the tragedy.
However, Cuchová herself was not ready to let go of her wealthy lover. On her social media, she continued to post declarations of love and pleas for forgiveness. This was despite the fact that Cuchová had staged a robbery of Bush’s apartment, clearing out the safe with her brother.
Cuchová loved to boast about her romance with the Englishman. Photo: social media
A BLOODY BIRTHDAY
In early April 2014, Maria and Andrew traveled to a luxurious villa in Marbella, Spain, to celebrate Maria’s birthday. Moreover, before entering the house, the man proposed to her, turning the evening into a fairy tale. But this fairy tale turned into a nightmare.
While the lovers were celebrating, Cuchová was already waiting for them at the villa. The jealous Majka, as it would later turn out, had been lying in wait for several days.
According to Maria, Cuchová began to threaten the couple, and the Russian woman ran outside. Bush promised to sort everything out himself, but then shots rang out. The Slovak model fired a .38 caliber revolver several times: once in the arm and twice in the head. After that, she fled in the millionaire’s car.
Korotaeva’s phone died, the house door slammed shut, and it could only be opened after two hours. By then, the businessman was dead. In a single evening, the Russian woman transformed from a happy fiancée into a heartbroken widow.
“I started knocking, shouting, but there was silence in response,” Maria Korotaeva told “KP-Yekaterinburg” in an interview. “I was panicking, hysterical. On top of that, my phone died, so I had to search for an outlet in the dark on the outside of the villa (where the gardener plugged in the lawnmower). I tried to call the police, but I couldn’t explain how to find the villa. In the end, I walked towards the beach, where parties were taking place. I immediately encountered a patrol car on the way. I started explaining what happened, but they looked at me like I was crazy. They came to the house and started to find out who the owner was. As it turned out, Andrew had been renting the villa for 10 years, but the owner was a local resident.”
Maria wrote a book about the terrible events that happened to her in 2014. Photo: Marina Moldavskaya
SERVED THREE TIMES LESS TIME
Majka Cuchová fled from Spain to Slovakia. She was apprehended four days later. The young woman initially denied premeditated murder, claiming that Bush had shot at her first and she was only defending herself. However, the investigation proved otherwise. The court in Malaga, Spain, to which the model was extradited, was strict.
In May 2016, the 26-year-old Slovak was sentenced to 24 years in prison. Notably, the sentence was later reduced to 15 years – the court considered that the woman was in a state of emotional distress at the time of the murder.
Majka Cuchová in the courtroom. Photo: FA Bobo/PIXSELL/PA Images/TASS
As it turned out, Cuchová spent only 8 years behind bars. She was released on parole in 2022. A few months later, she contacted Maria and, as if nothing had happened, asked, “How are you?”
“It was a shock to me,” says Maria Korotaeva. “I know she got a job in an upscale shopping center. She also constantly vacations at beach parties. I think she has a wealthy patron. Otherwise, I can’t explain how someone with such a criminal record could get a job and even boast about designer clothes.”
According to the British press, Cuchová was released early after she “convinced the Spanish authorities that she did not pose a threat to others.”
This is how Majka Cuchová looked after eight years behind bars. Photo: social media
“Upon her release, Cuchová immediately began celebrating her freedom, posting photos of herself on a Spanish beach in a bikini, dining with friends, and in a tight white dress by a palm tree. It was also reported that she vacationed in Mallorca with her parents,” tabloids wrote.
The deceased magnate’s sister stated that she would never forgive Cuchová and wished for her death penalty. She called the model an “ugly creature” who was obsessed with her brother’s money.
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