Mikhail Popkov
Mikhail Viktorovich Popkov (Russian: Михаи́л Ви́кторович Попко́в; born 7 March 1964) is a Russian serial killer, rapist, and necrophile who committed the sexual assault and murder of seventy-eight girls and women between 1992 and 2010 in Angarsk, Irkutsk, in Siberia, and Vladivostok in Far East, although he has confessed to and is suspected of at least eighty-three in total. He is known as "The Werewolf" and the "Angarsk Maniac" for the particularly brutal nature of his crimes; he would extensively mutilate the bodies of his victims and perform sexual acts on them. He is the most prolific serial killer in Russian history.
Mikhail Popkov | |
|---|---|
| Born | Mikhail Viktorovich Popkov 7 March 1964 |
| Other names | The Werewolf The Angarsk Maniac The Shadow of Chikatilo |
| Motive | Hatred of prostitutes Misogyny Sexual sadism |
| Conviction(s) | Aggravated murder (x78) Attempted aggravated murder (x2) |
| Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment |
| Details | |
| Victims | 78 confirmed & convicted; 83+ confessed |
Span of crimes | 1992 – 2010 confirmed 1992 – 2012 possible |
| Country | Russia |
| State(s) | Irkutsk Oblast Primorsky Krai |
Date apprehended | June 23, 2012 |
Popkov, a former police officer and security guard, was convicted of 22 murders in 2015 and sentenced to life imprisonment, and confessed to an additional 59 three years later; on December 10, 2018, he was convicted for 56 of the 59 additional killings, three of which the police could not find sufficient evidence with which to be proven, and given a second life sentence. There were calls for Popkov to be executed, but this was unavailable as capital punishment in Russia is subject to a formal moratorium.