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Ex-policeman sentenced to life imprisonment for committing 60 murders

Psychologic and psychiatric examination showed that Popkov committed the crimes out of homicidomania

Mikhail Popkov EPA/DMITRY DMITRIYEV

Mikhail Popkov

© EPA/DMITRY DMITRIYEV

IRKUTSK, December 10. /TASS/. Irkutsk Region Court has sentenced a former policeman from Angarsk, Mikhail Popkov, to life imprisonment for committing 60 murders, TASS reported from the courtroom.

"To sentence Mikhail Popkov to life imprisonment in a high-security prison under cumulative offenses as cumulative sentence," judge Alexei Zhigayev said, announcing the sentence. Popkov was deprived of his military rank of junior lieutenant by the court’s ruling.

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Chief Public Prosecutor for the Irkutsk Region Alexander Shkinev told reporters that the psychologic and psychiatric examination showed that Popkov committed the crimes out of homicidomania - a mania for murder. Still, he was ruled sane.

Shkinev noted that Popkov intends to appeal against the judgement in the Supreme Court, as the deprivation of the military rank will leave him without pension. The verdict announced earlier over 22 murders did not strip him of his military rank and he continued to receive a pension of about 24,000 rubles ($358) per month.

The former policeman from Angarsk was detained in 2012. In January 2015, Irkutsk Region Court sentenced him to life imprisonment over 22 murders. In March 2017, Popkov was charged with 60 more crimes, and he made a confession under each of them. In December, the Investigative Committee submitted the case to the court.

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