MOSCOW, July 9 — The American ambassador to Russia, William J. Burns, urged the Kremlin on Monday to “redouble its efforts” to solve the case of the American journalist Paul Klebnikov, who was shot three years ago in a contract murder here.
The ambassador spoke at a gathering of Mr. Klebnikov’s family and friends here at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
Mr. Klebnikov, an American of Russian descent who was the editor of the Russian edition of Forbes magazine, was shot to death on a street in front of his office on July 9, 2004, in one of a series of unsolved killings of journalists in Russia in recent years.
In Washington, the State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, issued a statement for the anniversary, saying that, “the intimidation and murder of journalists is an affront to free and independent media and all who respect democratic values.”
In Mr. Klebnikov’s case, a promising early effort by investigators has since unraveled.
After two suspects were acquitted last year in a closed jury trial, Russia’s Supreme Court ordered a retrial. In Russia, there is no prohibition against double jeopardy.
The new trial, however, has been on indefinite hold since one of the suspects, Kazbek Dukuzov, disappeared in February.
Critics of the Russian judicial system have said that the suspects were just hit men and that prosecutors should be focusing on whoever ordered the murder. A lawyer for the Klebnikov family, Larisa N. Maslennikova, said that the prosecutor general’s office was conducting a separate investigation into the killing.
Prosecutors have said they are operating on the theory that the killing was carried out on behalf of a Chechen separatist commander, Khozh-Akhmed Nukhayev, who was the subject of one of Mr. Klebnikov’s books, “A Conversation with a Barbarian.”
Peter Klebnikov, Paul’s older brother, said that the family was concerned with the “procedural problems and misconduct” that have plagued the investigation and the first trial. “What has happened to date has not made us proud to be of Russian heritage,” he said.
