3 days ago
World's worst serial killer has horrifying motive for killing 90 women
The world's most notorious serial killer has offered a bone-chilling explanation for slaughtering at least 90 women, admitting hacking his latest victim to death with an axe before setting her alight.
Mikhail 'Werewolf' Popkov, charged with the savage slaying of Tatyana S, a cleaner, whose body he then torched in Angarsk in 2011, may have a death toll "closer to 200," police insiders claim.
The 61 year old former police officer, who targeted females aged between 18 and 50, usually raped his victims prior to killing them with weapons such as axes, hammers, knives, screwdrivers, and spades. At a crime scene near a derelict water pumping station, a shackled Popkov confessed: "I committed the murder."
His justification for these monstrous deeds was even more appalling.
A law enforcement insider reckons his actual victim count is "closer to 200" as he annually confesses to more murders, aiming to better his jail conditions. Popkov, a married father, unleashed a wave of horror on lone women from 1992 to 2011, predominantly in Angarsk, Russia, reports the Mirror US.
His ghastly reason? He sought to "cleanse of prostitutes".
Recounting the lead-up to his latest confessed murder, he said: "I was on a bicycle, about to cross the park... I met this woman I didn't know, or she asked me something, and some conversation ensued."
The row escalated and resulted in him hitting her with a small axe. When asked if he continued the assault after she fell, he responded: "No, I think I just pushed her over there and she fell over there. Then I stepped back, took out a match, threw a match, it went up in flames."
He admitted soaking her in solvent before setting her alight. "And I just got on my bike and took off," Popkov confessed.
"I put the axe right on the grass. Who will be looking for her at that time?" If his confession results in a conviction, it would verify at least 90 murders linked to him.
Already serving two life sentences plus 10 years the man known as the "Angarsk Maniac" for his bloodcurdling series of killings, his latest victim's body was found in 2011, but wasn't initially connected to Popkov.
It is thought to be his last confirmed killing. The Russian Investigative Committee said: "Popkov has admitted his guilt and testified to committing the crime, after which he was transferred [from his high security jail] to the Irkutsk region for the necessary investigative procedures. He has now been charged."
Last year, Popkov owned up to three fresh murders in Russia's Primorsky region, a staggering 2,400 miles from Angarsk in Siberia where he carried out most of his horrific crimes. These additional killings took place when he journeyed to Vladivostok, the Russian Pacific port, to purchase second-hand Japanese motors which he then sold back in his home area after quitting the police force.
Popkov was found to suffer from homicidal mania, described by TASS as "a condition when a person has an irrational desire to kill someone". Despite this, the serial killer was deemed sane.
Despite its moratorium on capital punishment since 1996, Russia refrains from executing even the vilest offenders. In times past, those condemned to death faced execution by gunshot to the back of the head.
A macabre clip from Popkov's personal collection depicts him in the nineties, advancing towards the lens with a blade in hand, reciting a post-war children's rhyme about Nazi POWs assaulting locals.
"I will slash you. I will beat you. Now it's your turn," he utters with a sinister grin. He often lured his victims with offers of late-night lifts in his cop car, only to drive them to secluded spots where he would assault and murder them, dumping their bare bodies in forests or by roadsides.
Popkov once confessed to a judge that he couldn't remember the exact tally of his victims. "I can't say exactly, I didn't keep a record," he stated.
However, the mass murderer conceded in court: "I admit my guilt in full.... Committing the murders, I was guided by my inner convictions."
Following his arrest in 2012, he informed police that his aim was to "cleanse" the streets of "prostitutes". "They abandoned their husbands and children at home and went out to party as if it was the last day on earth," he expressed.
One theory is that an affair his wife Elena had with a coworker may have sparked Popkov's killing spree.
Alexey Mulyavin, 52, admitted to having an affair with Elena before her husband embarked on his horrific spree. "He did not catch us red handed, but he learned about it," the man said.
"You know, it was a very short affair. We were young. And probably everyone has love affairs at work."
Popkov had previously recounted how he found used condoms at his home and suspected Elena of being unfaithful. She refuted the accusations, asserting she allowed friends to use their house for a rendezvous.
Popkov said: "This was the impetus for my future. If I had seen the treason with my own eyes, I would perhaps have done everything differently.
"Everyone goes through such things differently. Some take it easily and forget, others take it painfully. What happened to me? The worst-case scenario."
In 2023, Popkov was sentenced for three previously undisclosed murders in Irkutsk between 1997 and 2003. Two women, aged 25 and 27, were strangled near the Angara River, one of whom was set alight after being soaked in petrol.
The third victim was a 31 year old nursery school teacher and mother of two. Despite Popkov's proposition to join Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine in return for his liberty, his request has been rejected.
