#18 | September 25 - October 8, 1997  

shot in podyezd	connected w/ Russian sports	murder for less than $100	really stupid criminal	explosive device	cries for help ignored	perp in body count
children	"investigation continuing"	carved up like a turkey	cannibalism	riddled with bullets	related to victim's job

Kharkov Chainsaw Massacre

Think being an orphan is tough enough already in Russia? Try going through it without ears. In one of the God-awfullest stories to unfold in the former Soviet union this year, a horrific murder conspiracy was uncovered in Krasny Oktyabr, a tiny village on the outskirts of Kharkov, beyond a hill called Bald Mountain. The story began five months ago, when a village resident walking his dog uncovered the disemboweled, headless trunk of a young girl in the woods. With the help of police, the girl's earless head and other body parts were later discovered, but no identification could be made. For months no progress was made on the case, until a photo of the girl's face was shown on television, and a caller phoned in to say he'd seen her outside a nearby house. Police descended on the house and quickly arrested five peopleÑthe house's 33 year-old owner, a woman named Marina, her ten year-old son Artem, 15 year-old daughter Anya, and two boys aged 15 and 19. All four quickly confessed and over a period of days outlined an incredible story. It seems the victim, whose name was Tatiana, was an orphan from Kharkov who had graduated from a municipal orphanage and found herself homeless, as is often the case (orphans by law are supposed to receive housing from the state, but seldom do). She met the 19 year-old, named Vasily, and his friend, the 15 year-old Vitaly, and the two offered to let her live in their home in Krasny Oktyabr. Tatiana agreed and took a job selling bread in the village. Her salary wasn't enough to support her, however, and the two young men soon had her turning tricks. Vitaly, who at fifteen had already slept with all three women in the house (including the 33 year-old Marina), quickly became jealous when Tatiana brought one of her johns home with her, and kicked the man out. From that point forward, Tanya was not let out of the house. Budding sadist Artem, fresh out of his tenth birthday, suggested that Tanya's head be shaved to make her look more like a concentration camp victim. The others agreed. Then little Artem suggested cutting off her ears, at which Vasily hesitated, until Vitaly "showed him how it was done."

"No, I said turn on the AIR CONDITIONER!"

Earless, Tanya was mocked and called ugly and told to wear a hat at all times, then finally locked in a room, where the three boys and the girl Irina would play "Gestapo"-interrogating, beating, and raping the victim (Artem was content just to watch). Vasily, who had long ago noticed that Tanya was afraid of cockroaches, suggested restricting her diet to live cockroaches only, and soon the whole household was put to work catching live cockroaches. Tanya spent days forced to eat roaches before she finally tried to escape, only to be caught outside the house. A conference was held, and it was decided that Tanya be dismembered and thrown in the woods. Vitaly did the dirty work, beheading her with a butcher's knife. The group scattered her remains and saison time. The rest, all minors, will go to juvenile homes and probably be released by the year 2000.

Mistaken Identity

Moskovsky Komsomolets last week reported yet another apparent first for Muscovite assassins: a case of mistaken identity. The paper said that police on Sunday morning got a call that there had been a dispute on Smolnaya Ulitsa in northern Moscow, and arrived at the scene-at house 73, korpus 1-at about 3 a.m. There they found the bullet-ridden body of a certain 31 year-old businessman named Gnatyuk lying on the stairs between the third and fourth floors. More stats for death porn-big deal, right? Well, there was a twist to this killing. Police checked Gnatyuk's documents and found he was registered on an apartment on Butirskaya Ulitsa. The address was familiar, and for a reason: there had been a killing there just one night before. Early Saturday morning, cops in that region had found the bullet-ridden body of one Mr. Shefel in Gnatyuk's podyezd.

"Just thought I'd drop in!"

Police had been baffled by the high-tech assassination of Shefel, a simple-minded mechanic with no large debts that anyone knew of. In fact, he was so unlikely as a murder victim that police spokesmen, when contacted by the eXile Monday, described Shefel in the following way: "If this had been a village, he would have been the village idiot." Police now speculate that Gnatyuk was the intended victim the first night, and that the killers only got it right later. One slight problem: different weapons were used in the two killings. Makes sense to us: Gnatyuk's enemies probably decided to do a little comparitive shopping after the Friday fiasco. The investigation, as they say, is continuing...

A Tough Break-Up

Why are there no family dramas on Russian television? Because the cast keeps getting slaughtered after a few episodes. Moscow last week was treated once again to yet another gruesome multiple family homicide, when a driver from AutoFactory no. 5 was finally sent to trial for quadruple murder and rape after having what he described as "an argument" with his ex-wife. The 28 year-old suspect had been separated from his wife for years, but had never gotten over her and was apparently extremely jealous. He handled her dating peacefully, however, until he learned that their young son was spending time with a "new papa." When he got that news last January, Mr. Reasonable flew over to his ex-wife's apartment and immediately locked his son and his wife's underage sister in the kitchen, and then went about the business of savagely beating his wife with a metal pipe. When she collapsed on the floor, he led the girl out of the kitchen, forced her to undress, and bound and gagged her with scotch tape. It was then that the girl's 64 year-old grandmother walked in: before she could take in what she'd seen, the aggrieved husband executed her with the metal pipe. A short time later, the girl's parents came by, and they too were both dispatched with the metal pipe. Now the apartment had three corpses in it, one severely beaten woman in critical condition, a naked minor covered in scotch tape, and a screaming boy locked in the bathroom: this set of circumstances lasted for a full five days, with the maniac repeatedly raping the girl, stopping only to beat the wife from time to time. When his wife finally died after a few days, he inexplicably left the apartment, giving the two kids instructions to go to his parents' house. He was captured shortly thereafter and went to trial last week.

Prosecutors are asking for, and will likely get, the death penalty for him if he is convicted.