attorney

Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder After Text Message Fight

A North Potomac man was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday for killing a man who texted his girlfriend.

Pavel Ivanov, 24, was found guilty June 5 of stabbing 22-year-old Bryan Hall 15 times the night of July 4, 2014.

Surveillance video showed Ivanov holding a white trash bag filled with bloody clothes moments after he stabbed Hall in a Gaithersburg Park, Montgomery County prosecutors said.

The night of the murder Ivanov was at a party in Rockville with his 20-year-old girlfriend, the state's attorney said. When the woman began receiving text messages from Hall, Ivanov flew into a rage. Ivanov didn't know the woman also was romantically involved with Hall, prosecutors said.

The men agreed to meet in Green Park in Gaithersburg. They got into an argument, and Ivanov allegedly punched Hall.

Hall tried to walk away, but Ivanov then repeatedly plunged a knife into him and left him to die, prosecutors said.

After the brutal killing, Ivanov drove to his mother's home, changed into a new outfit and placed his bloody clothes into a trash bag, prosecutors said.

Contact Us