Maybe his drawing skills are not half-baked.
Viktoria Nasyrova, the Russian-born former dominatrix who was sentenced to more than two decades in prison for trying to poison her friend with what looked like a tainted piece of cheesecake, has been photographed cooling her heels.
“My so-called ‘signature’ work is the letters of people’s names – with butterflies and such – in 3D,” Nasyrova, 47, recently told The Post from the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in a series of prison interviews.
“You will be very surprised,” he continued. “I get an enormous amount of pleasure from seeing people’s faces when I give them what they order from me — nobody expects it. I can call what I make, without false modesty, a work of art … Even to me, it seems like a small miracle.”
The raven-haired alleged serial poisoner said she’s always loved art, culture and travel — but it’s become difficult for her to find people to talk to about it since she moved to the Westchester County women’s jail following her sentencing in April.
“I don’t want to look like I’m better than others, even in some ways I am,” Nasyrova said. “But to find someone on your intellectual level… It’s hard to find people here that I can really communicate with. I want to talk about art, culture, travel, books.”
Viktoria Nasyrova was sentenced to more than two decades in prison for trying to poison her friend with what looked like a piece of tainted cheesecake. Matthew McDermott
“I didn’t do anything,” he insisted. “I have never robbed anyone. I never killed anyone. I never tried to kill anyone. They sentenced me to 21 years for a crime I did not commit.”Gregory P. Mango
But even since discovering her newfound passion for painting — and being able to enjoy the fresh vegetables she didn’t get while on Rikers Island awaiting trial — Nasyrova says she’s “resolute all the time.”
“I wasn’t like that before. In prison, you can feel that something is going to happen at any moment. You can eat and then the next minute someone next to you is fighting … I can’t rest,” he whines.
All of that will end if he succeeds in his plan to appeal his attempted murder conviction in February — which Nasyrova insists will happen because he is, of course, innocent.
“I didn’t do anything,” he insisted as he sat in the guest room at Bedford Hills. “I have never robbed anyone. I never killed anyone. I never tried to kill anyone. They sentenced me to 21 years for a crime I did not commit.”
That’s not what a Queens jury thought when it found Nasyrova guilty of trying to kill Olga Tsvyk, a 35-year-old eyelash stylist, by feeding her a piece of poisoned cheesecake in August 2016.
Nasyrova was found guilty of attempting to kill Olga Tsvyk, a 35-year-old eyelash stylist.Dennis A. Clark
Tsvyk believes Viktoria Nasyrova is trying to poison him and assume his identity.
Prosecutors produced several damning witnesses during the trial, including Tsvyk; Ruben Borukhov, a former lover who told the court that Nasyrova poisoned him on a date, stole his credit card and spent $2,600; and Nadezda Ford, the Russian girl whose body Nasyrova allegedly burned after he killed her.
That testimony — combined with DNA evidence Nasyrova left on the cheesecake box — devastated the defendant, who Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder called “a very dangerous woman.”
But during her interview with The Post, Nasyrova tried to paint herself as less of an evil killer, more of an arts and crafts teacher.
“I didn’t know I could draw, but I’m good,” he said, adding that he makes several hundred dollars a month in Rikers for his illustrations, which run the gamut from Disney characters like Mickey Mouse to cartoon classics like Roger Rabbit and Betty Boop.
“I make various things for the prisoners: cards, posters, T-shirts,” he said. “Once, I made birthday decorations for a prisoner’s daughter. He likes Minions, so I made big cardboard cutouts, painted them like Minions.
“Then I put on the 3-D glasses, stood them up, then made T-shirts for all the kids with Minions characters and their names on each T-shirt,” he beamed. “It’s just the beginning.”
Nasyrova, 47, recently told The Post from Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in a series of prison interviews about how she spends her time.
“It’s hard to find people here that I can really communicate with. I want to talk about art, culture, travel, books,” said Nasyrova.
He creates cartoon cards, posters and T-shirts.
Despite her pleasant new hobby, Nasyrova’s fiery old self quickly emerges when asked about things like food in prison — or the trial that put her there.
“The food here is rubbish,” he said. “But I like that I can order fresh fruits and vegetables … I get more leisure time here. I’ve lost 20 pounds.”
He also refused to take the mandatory anger management course because he thought it was a waste of time.
“It’s bulls–t,” he said. “They don’t care about what they do. They won’t help me. I do have anger issues, but it’s not the kind of anger issue that this class can help me with.”
Other prisoners had already felt his cold anger, he claimed.
“Once I got into a fight, and I was so angry that I kept hitting him, and he was covered in blood,” Nasyrova said. “Then I realized that if I didn’t stop, I would seriously disfigure him. So I quit.”
His arrival in Bedford Hills was pretty exciting, he said.
He was covered in blood when he arrived, which he claimed was from a transport guard punching him in the nose.
Nasyrova plans to appeal her attempted murder conviction in February.Dennis A. Clark
They called in extra security and “handcuffed me like Hannibal Lecter,” he said, referring to the fictional cannibal serial killer, adding he was later placed on suicide watch.
“I told them, ‘I will never kill myself. With my mind, if I wanted to kill myself, I would have done it, believe me,'” he said.
“Everyone knows who I am here,” Nasyrova boasted. “There are some Russian-speaking prisoners here, and before I arrived they asked them about me, ‘You know he’s coming here? He’s a legend.’”
But Nasyrova also claims her reputation is said to be too high.
“I’m not a gangster, I’m not a criminal – I’m a normal human being,” he said, before adding that he did not “tolerate any disrespect.”
“When people call me ‘Russian’ or anything other than my name, I don’t answer,” he said. “I told them, ‘You can call me Viktoria or prisoner Nasyrova, not “Russian,” or “white donkey,” or anything but my name.’ You don’t have to like me, but you have to respect me.”
Ruben Borukhov, her former lover, told the court that Nasyrova poisoned her during a date, stole her credit card and spent $2,600.
Borukhov claims he has never used drugs himself. Queens District Attorney’s Office
He slammed everyone involved in his case – including the prosecutor who “turned the trial into a Broadway show” and the witnesses who testified against him.
“It’s a completely fabricated case,” he said, arguing he had no reason to poison Tsvyk, who nearly died after taking the powerful Russian sedative Phenazepam, and that the old drug conviction should have hurt Borukhov’s credibility.
Prosecutors said Nasyrova tried to hijack Tsvyk’s identity by giving up his passport and cash, among other things.
“The trial was built on the fact that I tried to kill this woman because we looked alike and I wanted to steal her identity,” the tease replied. “But she’s not a US citizen, she doesn’t have a green card, she doesn’t have any rights … what’s the point of me trying to kill this woman?”
Nasyrova claimed Tsvyk was the real villain, accusing the victim of trying to frame him and putting Phenazepam on his own cake box so he could stay in the US — without explaining how the two were connected.
Nasyrova also complained about an illegal organ donation ring she claims operated in a tri-state area, said she wanted to sue the prison because corrections officers punched her on the way to Bedford Hills, and believed the Russian government was trying to frame her .
Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder called Nasyrova “a very dangerous woman.” Matthew McDermott
When The Post contacted Tsvyk, he said Nasyrova deserved what she got.
“Yes, I planted Phenazepam,” Tsvyk said, sarcasm dripping from his words. “I poisoned myself, and everyone else poisoned themselves too. But he’s the one in prison … he lied about everything.”
Borukhov admitted he was arrested for growing pot about 15 years ago, but served his time and never used drugs himself.
“I’m telling the truth,” said Borukhov. “What he did to people … he deserves whatever he gets. Everyone lies, everyone is corrupt, he’s the only one who tells the truth, but he got 21 years.”
Meanwhile, Nasyrova compared herself to Matt Damon’s character in “The Martian,” one of her favorite movies that she said had “inspired” her.
Nasyrova wants to sue the prison because corrections officers punched her on the way to Bedford Hills, and she believes the Russian government is trying to frame her.
Nasyrova tried to paint herself as less of an evil killer, more of an arts and crafts teacher. Matthew McDermott
“Can you imagine someone being in such a situation? To be left alone on a foreign planet, and not only to survive, but to return home?” asked Nasyrova.
“For me it’s the same situation — not just to survive in prison, but to get my freedom.”
But her victim cares less about Nasyrova’s supposed fight and more about what she’ll do if or when she finally gets out.
“He’s a very dangerous person, a scary person,” Tsvyk told The Post. “He is a manipulator and a liar. I thank God that he can’t do what he did to people anymore, although who knows what he did in prison. He can do anything.”
“I hope they don’t let him out early, in case he comes after me.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
