Mikhail Popkov has become Russia's most prolific serial killer

A Russian serial killer nicknamed the "werewolf" who is serving a life sentence for killing 22 women has been convicted of 56 more murders.

Former policeman Mikhail Popkov, one of Russia's most prolific serial killers, was found guilty of killing 56 people between 1992 and 2007 by a court in the Siberian city of Irkutsk.

He confessed to 59 murders but investigators had not managed to prove three of the crimes took place, according to local reports.

Popkov was found guilty of raping 10 of the victims and was given a second life sentence on top of the one he is already serving.

He was convicted in 2015 of killing 22 women.

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Prosecutors said Popkov had a "pathological attraction to killing people", while Russian media nicknamed him "the werewolf" and the "Angarsk maniac".

He killed his victims with a hammer or axe after offering them rides late at night, sometimes in a police car, while he was off duty around his home city of Angarsk near Irkutsk.

Popkov told journalists last year that he viewed himself as a "cleaner" who was purging his city of prostitutes.

He said he had targeted women who were drunk or he viewed as immoral.

Some of his victims were prostitutes and drug addicts, but most were ordinary women with families.

Popkov was finally caught in 2012 after investigators DNA-tested people who drove cars matching tyre tracks found at the crime scenes.

He later showed police where he had buried his victims' bodies.

Popkov has become Russia's most prolific killer in at least the past century, with the number of murders exceeding that of "chessboard killer" Alexander Pichushkin, who murdered 48, and Andrei Chikatilo, who killed 52.</s>A Siberian policeman who raped and killed women after offering them late-night rides was found guilty of dozens more murders Monday, making him Russia's most prolific serial killer of recent times.

A court in the city of Irkutsk found Mikhail Popkov guilty of 56 murders between 1992 and 2007, sentencing him to a second life term. He was already in prison after being convicted of killing 22 women in 2015.

Popkov offered rides to women late at night, sometimes in his police car, while off-duty around his city of Angarsk near Irkutsk.

He killed them using weapons including a hammer and an axe, then dumped their bodies in the woods, at the side of the road and in a local cemetery.

He was also found guilty of raping 10 of the women.

Popkov described himself as a "cleaner" who was purging his home city of prostitutes. All but one of his victims were women between the ages of 16 and 40. His other victim was a policeman.

The grey-haired 54-year-old appeared in court in prison uniform, his head bowed, Russian television showed. He will be sent to a prison that is exclusively for convicts serving life terms, nicknamed the "Black Dolphin."

As part of his sentence — a rare case in Russia of a convicted murderer being given a second life sentence — Popkov was also deprived of his police pension.

Prosecutors have described Popkov as having "a pathological attraction to killing people" but he was ruled sane enough to stand trial.

Investigators had suspected a policeman was behind the crime because of the way the killer carefully covered his tracks.

The murders took place while he was a serving police officer and after he left the force in 1998.

Popkov was caught in 2012 after investigators re-examined the case and carried out DNA testing of residents, focusing on those who drove a make of car that matched tracks found at crime scenes.

In a 2017 interview with Russia's Meduza website, Popkov said he gave women lifts and targeted those who were drunk or living in a way he saw as immoral, saying that "any society condemns the behaviour of a debauched woman".

While already in jail, he confessed to 59 further murders but was convicted only of 56 on Monday because investigators had not managed to prove three of the crimes took place, Interfax news agency reported, citing the court's press service.

Investigators said they uncovered the remains of some of the victims' bodies based on Popkov's account, as well as finding murder weapons including axes, chisels and knives.

The number of killings for which he has been convicted exceeds the totals of several notorious murderers in Russia and the ex-Soviet Union.

"Chessboard Killer" Alexander Pichushkin was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 for 48 murders and Andrei Chikatilo was convicted of 52 Soviet-era murders.</s>IRKUTSK, Russia -- A Siberian policeman who raped and killed women after offering them late-night rides was found guilty of dozens more murders on Monday, making him Russia's most prolific serial killer of recent times. A court in the city of Irkutsk found Mikhail Popkov guilty of 56 murders between 1992 and 2007, sentencing him to a second life term. He was already in prison after being convicted of killing 22 women in 2015.

Popkov, dubbed "the Werewolf" and the "Angarsk maniac" by Russian media, offered rides to women late at night, sometimes in his police car, while off-duty around his city of Angarsk near Irkutsk, 2,600 miles east of Moscow.

His murderous spree initially went unnoticed during a period of rampant mafia killings in the crime-ridden city.

He killed his victims using weapons including a hammer and an axe, then dumped their bodies in the woods, at the side of the road and in a cemetery.

He was also found guilty of raping 11 of the women.

Popkov described himself as a "cleaner" who was purging his home city of prostitutes.

All but one of his victims were women between the ages of 16 and 40. His one male victim was a policeman he gave a ride to late at night and killed in a forest.

The grey-haired 54-year-old appeared in court in prison uniform, his head bowed. He will be sent to a prison that is exclusively for convicts serving life terms, nicknamed the "Black Dolphin".

As part of his sentence -- a rare case in Russia of a convicted murderer being given a second life sentence -- Popkov was also deprived of his police pension.

He intends to appeal against the sentence, regional prosecutor Alexander Shkinev told Russian news agencies.

Prosecutors on Monday described Popkov as having "a pathological attraction to killing people" and "homicidal mania with sadistic elements," but he was ruled sane enough to stand trial.

Investigators had suspected a policeman because of the way the killer carefully covered his tracks.

The murders took place while he was a serving police officer and after he left the force in 1998.

Popkov was caught in 2012 after investigators re-examined the case and carried out DNA testing of residents, focusing on those who drove a make of car that matched tracks found at crime scenes.

In a 2017 interview with Russia's Meduza website, Popkov said he gave women lifts and targeted those who were drunk or living in a way he saw as immoral, adding that "any society condemns the behaviour of a debauched woman".

While in jail, he confessed to 59 further murders but was convicted only of 56 on Monday because investigators had not managed to prove three of the crimes took place, Interfax news agency reported, citing the court's press service.

Investigators said they uncovered the remains of some of the victims' bodies based on Popkov's account, as well as finding murder weapons including axes, screwdrivers and knives.

The number of killings for which he has been convicted exceeds the totals of several notorious murderers in Russia and the ex-Soviet Union.

"Chessboard Killer" Alexander Pichushkin was jailed for life in 2007 for 48 murders, mostly of elderly men he met in a Moscow park. He aimed to kill one person for each of the 64 squares on the chessboard.

Andrei Chikatilo was convicted of 52 Soviet-era murders that were sexually motivated. He was known as the "Butcher of Rostov" after the area of southern Russia where he was most active. He was executed in 1994, before Russia imposed a moratorium on the death penalty.

Popkov reportedly boasted to cellmates that he had committed more murders than Chikatilo.</s>A former policeman in Russia has been convicted of murdering 56 women, bringing the number he is believed to have killed to at least 78.

Mikhail Popkov, from the eastern Siberian city of Angarsk, was found guilty of the murders between 1994 and 2000 and was sentenced to life in prison.

Popkov, who was arrested in 2012, is already serving life for 22 other killings.

The verdict makes him Russia's most prolific serial killer in at least the past century.

Local police have for years been investigating murders in the Irkutsk region, where dozens of women were raped and killed in secluded spots.

Psychiatric tests run on Popkov have concluded that he is sane.</s>The court in the Siberian city of Irkutsk finds Mikhail Popkov 'guilty of killing 56 people between 1992 and 2007,' the Irkutsk regional prosecutor's office says

MOSCOW, Russia – A Russian court on Monday, December 10, found a former policeman guilty of 56 murders, while he is already serving a life sentence for killing 22 women, making him one of Russia's most prolific serial killers.

The court in the Siberian city of Irkutsk found Mikhail Popkov "guilty of killing 56 people between 1992 and 2007," Irkutsk regional prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Prosecutors said Popkov "has a pathological attraction to killing people." He was also found guilty of raping 10 of the victims.

He received a second life sentence on top of the one he is already serving and was also formally deprived of his pension as an ex-policeman.

Popkov in 2015 was found guilty of killing 22 women. He later confessed to 59 further murders but was convicted only of 56 on Monday because the investigators had not managed to prove three of the crimes took place, Interfax news agency reported citing the court's press service.

He killed his victims after offering them rides late at night, sometimes in a police car, while he was off-duty around his home city of Angarsk near Irkutsk.

The number of killings for which he has been convicted exceeds the total of several notorious murderers in Russia and the ex-Soviet Union.

"Chessboard killer" Alexander Pichushkin was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 for 48 murders and Andrei Chikatilo was convicted of 52 Soviet-era murders. – Rappler.com</s>MOSCOW: A former police officer jailed for murdering 22 women received a second life sentence on Monday for the murder of 56 more people, making him one of modern Russia's deadliest serial killers.

Dubbed the "maniac of Angarsk" after his home city in Siberia, 54-year-old Mikhail Popkov drove victims to secluded spots where he killed them with axes, knives or screwdrivers. Some were also raped.

He was detained in the Russian Far East in 2012 two decades after he began his killing spree and was sentenced to life imprisonment in January 2015 for 22 murders and 2 attempted murders.

He confessed to 60 more crimes, including 59 murders, after he was convicted.

Investigators said on Monday that Popkov had provided evidence allowing officers to exhume the remains of victims killed 15-20 years ago, along with their personal effects and the weapons he had used to kill them.

Investigators said Popkov's victims were women aged from 16 to 40. He also killed one man, a fellow police officer.

A state prosecutor told the court that Popkov had a phenomenal ability to recall minute details of his crimes, including the clothes, tattoos, and jewellery worn by his victims, RIA news agency reported.

Andrei Chikatilo, known as the Rostov Ripper, was convicted in 1992 of killing over 50 people. He was executed.

In 2007, supermarket worker Alexander Pichushkin was convicted of killing 48 people. He became widely known as the chessboard killer as he had hoped to put a coin on every square of a 64-square chessboard for each of his victims.</s>A Russian court on Monday found a former policeman guilty of 56 murders, while he is already serving a life sentence for killing 22 women, making him one of Russia's most prolific serial killers.

The court in the Siberian city of Irkutsk found Mikhail Popkov "guilty of killing 56 people between 1992 and 2007," Irkutsk regional prosecutor's office said in a statement.

Prosecutors said Popkov "has a pathological attraction to killing people." He was also found guilty of raping 10 of the victims.

He received a second life sentence on top of the one he is already serving and was also formally deprived of his pension as an ex-policeman.

Popkov in 2015 was found guilty of killing 22 women. He later confessed to 59 further murders but was convicted only of 56 on Monday because the investigators had not managed to prove three of the crimes took place, Interfax news agency reported citing the court's press service.

He killed his victims after offering them rides late at night, sometimes in a police car, while he was off-duty around his home city of Angarsk near Irkutsk.

The number of killings for which he has been convicted exceeds the total of several notorious murderers in Russia and the ex-Soviet Union.

"Chessboard killer" Alexander Pichushkin was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 for 48 murders and Andrei Chikatilo was convicted of 52 Soviet-era murders.

For the latest News & Live Updates on Election Results from each assembly constituency in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for updates.</s>A former Russian police officer who was sentenced in 2015 to life in prison for the killings of 22 women has received a second life sentence for murdering 56 more women.

The Irkutsk Regional Court in southeastern Siberia also ruled on December 10 to deprive the convicted serial killer, 54-year-old Mikhail Popkov, of the rank of police sergeant.

Dubbed the Angarsk Maniac by Russian media, he is the most prolific known serial killer in Russian and Soviet history.

Popkov, a former police officer from the nearby city of Angarsk, was arrested in 2012 after a series of DNA tests linked him to rapes and murders of three women in 1997.

In January 2015, he was found guilty of the murder of 22 women and the attempted murder of two women between 1994 and 2000 and was sentenced to life in prison.

Popkov was charged in March 2017 with murdering 59 more women after authorities said he confessed to the crimes.

But Popkov was convicted of 56 murders only on December 10 because investigators could not prove that three of the crimes actually took place.

Authorities said he committed some of the killings while on duty, using his police car and uniform to trap his victims.

Andrei Chikatilo was convicted in 1992 and executed in 1994 for raping, butchering, and in some cases cannibalizing as many as 52 people.

"Chessboard Killer" Aleksandr Pichushkin was sentenced to life in prison in 2007 for 48 murders.

Based on reporting by TASS and Interfax</s>MOSCOW (AP) — A court in Russia's eastern Siberia on Monday convicted a former policeman of murdering 56 women, bringing the number he is believed to have killed to at least 78.

The court found Mikhail Popkov, from the eastern Siberian city of Angarsk, guilty of the murders between 1994 and 2000 and sentenced him to life in prison. Popkov, who was arrested in 2012, is already serving life for 22 other killings.

Read more: Serial killers tend to gravitate to similar jobs — and some of them might surprise you

The verdict makes him Russia's most prolific serial killer in at least the past century.

Local police have for years been investigating murders in the Irkutsk region, where dozens of women were raped and killed in secluded spots. In order to help the probe, authorities ended up taking DNA samples from 230,000 residents of Angarsk. Sperm found on one of the victims led the investigators to the killer.

Psychiatric tests run on the police lieutenant who retired in 1998 have concluded that he is sane.

Read more: 9 serial killers from around the world you may not have heard of

Popkov's lawyer told Russian news agencies that his 54-year-old client would appeal the verdict as well as the motion to strip him of his police pension, which he has been receiving despite the 2015 guilty verdict.</s>IRKUTSK: A Siberian policeman who raped and killed women after offering them late-night rides was found guilty of dozens more murders on Monday, making him Russia’s most prolific serial killer of recent times.

A court in the city of Irkutsk found Mikhail Popkov guilty of 56 murders between 1992 and 2007, sentencing him to a second life term. He was already in prison after being convicted of killing 22 women in 2015.

Popkov offered rides to women late at night, sometimes in his police car, while off-duty around his city of Angarsk near Irkutsk, 4,200 kilometres (2,600 miles) east of Moscow.His murderous spree initially went unnoticed during a period of rampant mafia killings in the crime-ridden city.

He killed his victims using weapons including a hammer and an axe, then dumped their bodies in the woods, at the side of the road and in a cemetery. He was also found guilty of raping 11 of the women.Popkov described himself as a “cleaner” who was purging his home city of prostitutes.

All but one of his victims were women between the ages of 16 and 40. His one male victim was a policeman he gave a ride to late at night and killed in a forest.The grey-haired 54-year-old appeared in court in prison uniform, his head bowed. He will be sent to a prison that is exclusively for convicts serving life terms, nicknamed the “Black Dolphin”.

As part of his sentence — a rare case in Russia of a convicted murderer being given a second life sentence — Popkov was also deprived of his police pension. He intends to appeal against the sentence, regional prosecutor Alexander Shkinev told Russian news agencies.

Prosecutors on Monday described Popkov as having “a pathological attraction to killing people” and “homicidal mania with sadistic elements,” but he was ruled sane enough to stand trial. Investigators had suspected a policeman because of the way the killer carefully covered his tracks.The murders took place while he was a serving police officer and after he left the force in 1998.
Russian serial killer and former policeman Mikhail Popkov is convicted of an additional 56 murders between 1992 and 2007. All of his victims were women.