Philosopher Confucius once said, “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.”  So what does that mean? It’s simple—if you seek your own justice, then prepare for the consequences. For an architect named Vitaly Kaloyev, he extracted vengeance on someone he blamed responsible for killing his entire family. Have you ever wondered how far you would go for revenge?

For Vitaly Kaloyev, July 1, 2002, was a long-awaited day. He had spent nearly a year away from his family in Barcelona while building a home for a wealthy client. He would never see them alive again. While over Germany, Bashkirian passenger flight 2937 collided with DHL Flight 611, a cargo airliner traveling from Italy to Belgium. The passenger flight had sixty-nine people on board while the cargo plane had two people. All 71 perished.

In a panic, Kayolev and other relatives made their way to the crash site. The planes had fallen 36,000 feet. Nothing remained but debris and death. Angered by his loss, Kayolev wanted an explanation. He learned that Peter Nielsen, the lone air traffic controller, had ordered the passenger plane to descend instead of climb. The error led to a midair crash.

Kayolev became incensed when he learned Nielsen wasn’t punished. SkyGuide, the air traffic control company, suspended three executives but didn’t hold Nielsen liable. In November 2003, SkyGuide offered Kayolev 160,000 Swiss Francs if he wouldn’t sue. He told SkyGuide he wanted to meet with Nielsen. After they refused, Kaloyev hired a private investigator to locate Nielsen.

Kaloyev then traveled to Nielsen’s Zurich, Switzerland home. He wanted an explanation about what happened to his family and an apology. Kaloyev arrived with a knife and stood outside Nielsen’s home. Nielsen saw Kaloyev and wanted to know what he wanted. Kaloyev said the men argued after Nielsen refused to apologize. In court, Kaloyev testified that he showed Nielsen pictures of his children and asked Nielsen how he would feel if he saw his own children in coffins.

Supposedly, Nielsen dismissed Kaloyev by striking his hand. Angered by the response, Kaloyev stabbed Nielsen to death. Authorities captured Kaloyev the next day and charged him with premeditated murder. He received eight years in prison, but didn’t serve the full term.

What’s been debatable is the intent. Kaloyev claimed he didn’t remember killing Nielsen. He said he only wanted an apology. If true, why did he bring a knife? Had Kaloyev received the apology, would he still have killed Nielsen? Kaloyev had said he felt someone needed to pay for the death of his family.

After Kaloyev served his sentence, his fellow countrymen embraced him after he returned to Russia. They were sympathetic to his plight. In 2017, Arnold Schwarzenegger, portrayed Vitaly Kaloyev in a movie titled “Aftermath.”

Kaloyev said he didn’t like Schwarzenegger’s portrayal of him as someone seeking pity. Kaloyev wanted no pity. Additionally, he said no one associated with the movie ever contacted him about the tragedy. Kaloyev also said the film didn’t capture Nielsen’s arrogance. After losing his family, Kaloyev spent much time in the cemetery and sank into a deep depression.

In 2012, he told a newspaper he didn’t regret killing Nielsen. He even said many other people understood his desire for justice. “Even in the Swiss jail nobody ever condemned or reproached me.” He added, “After the first two years I got into the medium-security jail where I could communicate with other convicts, and when I went out for a walk into the prison yard for the first time, almost everybody there came up to me to express their respect for what I did.”

This is one of those stories where it’s difficult to know how you would respond in the same situation. You might even cry out for justice, but how far would you go to get it? Do you even know?

Marc is a longtime resident of Clermont County and avid reader. He can be contacted through his website at www.themarcabe.com, through Facebook: www.facebook.com/themarcabe or his Twitter account @themarcabe. And be sure to listen to his podcast at www.spreaker.com/show/the-marcabe.