Victor Razumov sentenced in 2012 Wantage killing. He's eligible for parole next year

NEWTON — It took seconds to brutally kill Virginia "Suzy" Sommer in her Wantage home in 2012, minutes to steal her jewelry, five days for authorities to charge then-18-year-old Victor Razumov with murder and 4,284 days since the man's arrest to give family the closure they deserved.

Twelve years after the 73-year-old woman's death, Razumov, whose competency was at the forefront of the case after he gouged out his own eyes while awaiting trial in 2014, was sentenced to 15 years in state prison in state Superior Court in Sussex County on Tuesday.

But the conviction held before Razumov's mother and attorney, a prosecutor and a judge didn't seem to bring much relief for Sommer's six family members, who admitted they struggle finding peace when Razumov will one day return to his own family, while their loved one will never do so again.

"Through this long and arduous process, I have often felt that she was forgotten as the real victim," said Sommer's youngest son. "Though the defendant is now a first-degree felon, this is not a day of celebration, it is not a day of fulfillment, it is not a day of newfound peace. It certainly isn't a day of justice for her. The irony of this is that my mother is not here because of Victor Razumov, but his mother still is."

And in 370 days, Razumov will be eligible for parole release from prison, and might get the opportunity to return home. Under his plea deal, Razumov will serve 85%, or roughly 12 years and 274 days, in prison, but since he has already served over 11 years while awaiting his case's resolution, he will be eligible for release on Aug. 18, 2025, state Superior Court Judge Michael Gaus said.

"I know that this is a plea deal, but I feel like he's getting the best of the deal," Sommer's son added.

Gaus admitted the case didn't have a "perfect outcome," noting that many elements went into the plea bargain, including the ongoing issues of Razumov's mental fitness, which appeared to change rapidly just when a trial had been planned. The age of the case also posed challenges to the memories of witnesses who would have been called to the stand during trial. At some point, Gaus said, law provide that the case would need to be considered for dismissal if someone continued to be incompetent for a certain length of time, he added.

He thanked Sommer's family for allowing the court "to have just a small peak" into what a wonderful woman she was and for helping the court understand all that the family had lost.

He found only one mitigating factor — Razumov's age at the time of the offense — and cited multiple aggravating factors, including the risk of reoffense and seriousness of the offense on someone who was known to him. Sommer, who lived alone in a house in the Lake Neepaulin section of Wantage, was Razumov's neighbor.

Family recalls memories, attorney places failure on broken system

Sommer's oldest daughter, Melissa, remembered her mother, who always went by the nickname "Suzy," as a small woman in stature, but lovingly feisty and smart, confident, friendly and found great joy in spending time with her three children, seven great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

Sommer lost her own mother at a young age but proved resilient and strong when she started her own business at the age of 40, and at 51, earned her nursing degree and worked as a nurse before she retired in 1999.

Sommer's youngest son said his mother was a positive influence on he and his siblings from a young age, and she had taught them to be independent and self-reliant. He was brought to tears when he recalled the phone call in the middle of the night telling him his mother had died.

"What was the last minutes of my mom's life like?" he contemplated, adding that because of a "selfish person" his mom's life was violently cut short.

The oldest of Sommer's seven grandchildren fondly recalled shopping trips to Shelby's in Newton, feeding ducks at the local pond and spending time with her grandmother while her parents worked. Sommer spent time individually with each of her grandchildren and cared deeply about the lives they led, she said.

She called Razumov "selfish, cowardly, disgraceful and disgusting" for taking not only a human life, but to take a piece of her family's lives as well.

Harley Breite, Razumov's attorney, didn't offer any mitigating factors, but instead placed failures on a broken system that could have prevented Razumov's actions. He said he was not diminishing Razumov's actions, but rather, believed family, educators, doctors and the criminal justice system — Razumov had three interactions with the family court as a juvenile — had failed to be proactive.

"My client was in high school when this occurred," Breite said. "You are not supposed to be in high school committing homicides. What's worse is, there were signs of mental illness."

Victor Razumov was not a "secret," Breite said, adding that it didn't take a "mystery" to figure out what was going to happen to him, albeit not to the extent it was.

"This is a day of reckoning for the entire system," he said, adding that someone should have seen the warning signs. "When you look at this in a complete mosaic, none of us should be here today."

Acting First Assistant Prosecutor Sahil Kabse spoke of the hardships Sommer's family faced over the years and recalled the death as a "tragic event" and "heinous crime."

"To have Mr. Razumov break into Ms. Sommer's home, to kill her in a such a violent way using a knife, to steal some of her jewelry, and to leave her in the home for dead is something her family members have to continue to deal with," Kabse said.

He admitted that the plea deal "definitely does not bring" the family justice, but brings them closure. While Razumov could have been stopped with proper intervention, Kabse said that Razumov is responsible for his actions and had to face the consequences.

Razumov, who came into court with the hood on his sweatshirt over the top his head before a judge ordered it be pulled down, didn't show any visible emotion during the hearing and rarely moved. He did speak when offered the chance, but did so softly and could not be clearly heard. Breite later said his client had "essentially apologized."

Victor Razumov's competency to stand trial

Razumov's competency to stand trial has been at the forefront of his case since the start, which had led to several shifts in judges, defense attorneys and prosecutors. Razumov has spent most of his time at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital, where he has been receiving treatment for a diagnosis of schizophrenia.

A criminal trial was expected to take place sooner rather than later when in March of this year, a psychologist deemed Razumov competent to stand trial. He opted to take a plea deal in June, when Razumov appeared coherent and confirmed several times that he understood what he was pleading to, according to a recording of the hearing.

But it wasn't always the case. In June 2022, Gaus ruled him incompetent to stand trial after a psychiatrist opined Razumov was experiencing delusions, confusion and paranoia and had believed that unknown forces had unjustly put him in prison. Judges also deemed him incompetent to stand trial in May 2015, June 2016 and October 2017.

In April 2018, another doctor reported that Razumov was "psychotic" with delusional thoughts, had paranoid ideation and had refused to engage in meaningful conversation. A different doctor, however, reversed those findings and found Razumov capable of understanding the court process and the crimes against him, finding she believed that he had malingered some of his symptoms and he was "intelligent and bright." Her testimony in court was the basis for a judge's January 2019 decision to render him competent to stand trial.

But in a hearing two months later, Razumov appeared confused and unable to state where he was or even his own name — an attempt to delay trial, prosecutors said they believed at the time. A trial date was set for May 2020, but the pandemic halted any movement in the case.

Sommer's murder

Sommer lived alone in the small bungalow home at the corner of Valley View Trail and Ravine Road. She was widowed in 2001 when her husband, Robert Sommer, died from cancer.

Sommer was found dead with a cut throat around 9 p.m. on Nov. 15 after friends became worried that something bad had happened to her when she did not respond to phone calls.

Razumov, who lived a half-mile from Sommer's home, was initially charged with tampering with evidence. Authorities say several days after the murder while searching the Razumov house, they found some of Sommer's jewelry in the yard and a bloody piece of paper in Razumov's room. Razumov allegedly grabbed the paper from a detective's hand, ran around the house in an attempt to destroy it and tried to eat it.

He was later charged on 12 counts in an indictment, including first-degree murder and first-degree felony murder, as well as charges for stealing the jewelry and selling it.

Victor Razumov's brother, Alexey Razumov, who was 20 at the time, was also charged after he was accused of driving his brother to pawn shops in Sussex and Franklin Borough to sell the stolen jewelry. Alexey Razumov entered the pre-trial intervention program in May 2016 to resolve his charges. The Clifton High School graduate died unexpectedly on April 17, 2023 at the age of 39.

Email: lcomstock@njherald.com ; Twitter: @LoriComstockNJH or on Facebook .

This article originally appeared on New Jersey Herald: Victor Razumov sentenced in 2012 Wantage killing. He's eligible for parole next year