A few moments later, just as two more raids were taking place in other parts of the city, the cops walked Petrov past his shocked coworkers and out the shattered door. Secretaries wept and colleagues were aghast as the detectives deposited him on the elevator. Petrov, however, was composed—almost eerily so.

At five feet ten inches, with blond hair and blue eyes, he was the man who best fit the physical descriptions they’d received from those who’d seen the angel of death. He also was the one who’d most loudly expressed a motive for wanting to hurt Coletti. He’d been outspoken in his criticism of the detective’s tactics while representing his cousin Aleksey in the 2003 murder case. Ivan Petrov had been determined in his attempts to get the conviction overturned on appeal.

More than his physical appearance or potential motive, however, his personal story fit the profile. Raised by a single mother who worked for near-slave wages in his native Ukraine, he spent much of his childhood by himself. When his mother died, they were penniless, and he was shipped to an orphanage, where he was abused at the hands of those who were supposed to care for him. It was only by happenstance that his cousin Aleksey’s father came back to visit the village from which their family hailed. When he learned of young Ivan’s fate, he spent a year dealing with the legalities of the international adoption, and the boy was eventually allowed to leave Ukraine for a new life with his cousins in America.

Ivan Petrov used his reprieve as a springboard to success. He graduated with honors from Masterman High School, one of the top one hundred schools in America. He won full academic scholarships to Yale and then Harvard Law. He graduated at the top of his class and made partner at his firm in just two years.

As a means of giving back, he’d spent the last five years sharing his story of success in the face of childhood neglect. He’d been featured on television talk shows all over the world.

Now, his story of empowerment and hope was being used to paint him as a serial killer with the motive, the background, and enough star power to convince disaffected young people to kill for him. The insinuation alone was enough to damage the reputation that had taken him a lifetime to build. They’d disgraced him in front of his colleagues, and as the detectives led him off the elevator and through the Italian marble lobby, the media took his humiliation worldwide.

“Mr. Petrov, are you the angel of death?” a newswoman from NBC asked as she thrust a microphone in his face.

“Are you going to represent yourself?” a Philadelphia Daily News reporter shouted.

“Do you have any comment about the man who was killed this morning?” asked a radio reporter.