Moscow's days as a "wild east" frontier town may be behind it but, to some, the old ways of solving business disputes – with a machine gun – still appeal.

The city's financial circles have been alive with theories after banker Alexander Slesarev, his wife and their 15-year-old daughter were found dead in his bullet-ridden Mercedes on a deserted road outside the capital. Slesarev was the owner of Sodbiznesbank, the banking empire that collapsed in July 2004 amid allegations of money laundering and other illegality.