Deputy head of German media company Bertelsmann AG killed in Moscow region

The deputy head of a small Russian division of German media company Bertelsmann AG was found stabbed to death at her summer house near Moscow, prosecutors said Monday.

Marina Pisareva, 47, was found dead on Sunday morning at her house in the Odintsova district, Moscow region prosecutors said in a statement posted on their Web site. The suspected murder weapon was a dagger that belonged to Pisareva, they said. Police recovered the weapon.

Klaus Marcus, a spokesman for Bertelsmann's Direct Group book and record club division, said that Pisareva was the deputy head of a 20-person publishing operation called Bertelsmann Media Moscow that produces illustrated books and coffee-table editions and is owned by the German company. "As far as we know there is no link between the business and the murder of Mrs. Pisareva," he said.

Bertelsmann, which is based in Guetersloh, Germany, includes book publisher Random House; music business BMG - comprised of its 50 percent holding in the Sony BMG Music Entertainment joint venture; and radio and television, including broadcaster RTL, magazines and media services.