Estonian man charged in the murder of filmmaker Laureline Garcia-Bertaux who was found dead in a shallow grave in her garden

A man has reportedly been charged with the killing of a French filmmaker, who was found buried in a shallow grave inside her garden in West London. Kirill Belorusov is being charged for the murder of 34-year-old Laureline Garcia-Bertaux.

According to Metropolitan Police, homicide detectives had been working on the case with Eurojust in Hague and Europol in order to trace and detain the man sought in connection with the investigation. Kirill was detained at an address in Tallinn, Estonia, according to a report by Mirror.

The 32-year-old was reportedly being held in an Estonian Police Station while extradition proceedings begin. Laureline was a French filmmaker who had been living in Darell Road, Kew, since April 2018. She was reported missing after she failed to show up at work on Tuesday, March 5.

On Wednesday, March 6, during late evening hours, police officials located a body in a shallow grave in the garden at the victim’s home address in Darell Road. Later, a post-mortem examination found she had been strangled.

A Metropolitan Police statement said: "Kirill Belorusov, 32 (04.03.87), an Estonian national who had been living in London, was arrested on Wednesday, March 13, at an address in Tallinn, Estonia, on suspicion of murder. The Met worked with the CPS to issue a European Arrest Warrant and received assistance from colleagues in Eurojust in the Hague, and Europol, to trace and detain him."

The statement continued, "He was escorted back to the UK by officers from the Met's Extradition Unit after proceedings were completed. He was taken into custody at a West London police station today, where he was charged with murder. He will appear at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court on the morning of Thursday, 21 March."

Laureline's colleagues also issued a statement about the Aix-en-Provence native, where they described the young woman as "a wonderfully creative, caring and charismatic woman". Apart from working as a personal assistant, she was also involved in film and had worked with Dame Joan Collins on the 2018 short film 'Gerry'.

Dame Joan Collins, on hearing the news of Laureline's death, said she was "shocked by the horrifying news" of her passing away. The late filmmaker's producer and actress friend Hester Ruoff described her as "an amazing individual" and said they had been due to start filming a new movie next month.