The four men were as of 2008 the only foreign kidnap victims to be murdered in Chechnya ; it was suggested that their death was a show of defiance to the authorities from the kidnappers .
The four men were as of 2008 the only foreign kidnap victims to be murdered in Chechnya . 
 It was suggested that the grotesque manner of their death would indicate an an apparent show of defiance to the authorities from the kidnappers .