--- description: Russia's Investigative Committee is reviving the case on the 1918 murders of the Romanov royal family. title: Russia's Last Tsar Dug Up as Probe Into 1918 Murder Reopened image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ae8707e741a70d4/69886528a988cac4e76b47df/gettyimages-489654778.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [russia](/tag/russia/) ## russia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Russia's Last Tsar Dug Up as Authorities Reopen Probe into 1918 Romanov Murders by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 24, 2015 5:28 AM CUT  People walk near the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg on Sept. 23, 2015 People walk near the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg on Sept. 23, 2015OLGA MALTSEVA—Getty Images by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 24, 2015 5:28 AM CUT Russia’s Investigative Committee is [taking another look](http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=12341 "undefined") at the 1918 murders of the Romanov royal family in the hope that new genetic testing can finally confirm the identity of remains thought to belong to Russia’s last emperor, Nicholas II, his wife, Alexandra Feodorovna and their five children. The family was gunned down amid the turmoil that followed the communist revolution. “The leadership of the Investigative Committee has decided to resume the preliminary investigation to conduct additional studies and investigative steps,” Vladimir Markin, a spokesperson for the committee, told the Russian news service Interfax on Wednesday. As part of the new probe, investigators [exhumed](http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=12345 "undefined") the remains the tsar and tsarina from their tomb in Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg. Investigators also took samples from bloodstains on the uniform of Nicholas II’s grandfather, Emperor Alexander II, who was assassinated by a bombing in 1881. Although previous investigations have confirmed the identity of all seven Romanovs, the Russian Orthodox Church still doubts the authenticity of the remains. “The resumption of the preliminary investigation indicates that not all questions raised by the Russian Orthodox Church have been answered and that not all circumstances of the case were established,” the lawyer of the House of Romanov, German Lukyanov [told](http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=12342 "undefined") Interfax. The tsarist family and their attendants were executed by firing squad by Bolsheviks on July 17, 1918, at a house in Yekaterinburg. Their bodies were then burned, doused in acid and thrown in a pit. Modern investigation into the murders began with the discovery of a mass grave in 1991 near Yekaterinburg. Genetic testing reportedly identified the remains as the royal couple and three of their children. The government officially recognized their remains before their burial in the royal sepulcher in 1998. Remains thought to belong to the Crown Prince Alexey and his sister, the Grand Duchess Maria were found some 70 km south of the first grave. They are being held in a state repository as investigations continue. Testing may bring the Romanov family together again after a century. \[[Interfax](http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=12341 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4047707/russia-crime-investigation-romanov-emperor-murder/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4047707/russia-crime-investigation-romanov-emperor-murder/"},"headline":"Russia's Last Tsar Dug Up as Authorities Reopen Probe into 1918 Romanov Murders","datePublished":"2015-09-24T05:28:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:12:53.662Z","description":"The family and their attendants were executed by a Bolshevik firing squad","url":"https://time.com/4047707/russia-crime-investigation-romanov-emperor-murder/","keywords":["russia","Murder","Crime","Investigation"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ae8707e741a70d4/69886528a988cac4e76b47df/gettyimages-489654778.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Rivett-Carnac","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mark-rivett-carnac/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2ae8707e741a70d4/69886528a988cac4e76b47df/gettyimages-489654778.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"RUSSIA-HISTORY-TSAR-INVESTIGATION","caption":"RUSSIA-HISTORY-TSAR-INVESTIGATION","creditText":"OLGA MALTSEVA—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/russia/","name":"russia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4047707/russia-crime-investigation-romanov-emperor-murder/","name":"Russia's Last Tsar Dug Up as Authorities Reopen Probe into 1918 Romanov Murders"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A Russian Roadtrip","description":"Senior Editor Nathan Thornburgh drives through the heart of Russia.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/bJYOIyRv/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2007-12-18T21:58:21.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bJYOIyRv.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4047707/russia-crime-investigation-romanov-emperor-murder/","duration":"PT5M9S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4047707/russia-crime-investigation-romanov-emperor-murder/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```