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Ex-Siberian cop turned mass murderer gets 10 years added on to his two life sentences

The sentence was changed due to the admission of two more murders

Mikhail Popkov (left) Angarsk City Court Press Service

Mikhail Popkov (left)

© Angarsk City Court Press Service

IRKUTSK, June 4. /TASS/. A Russian court has handed former policeman Mikhail Popkov, a serial killer dubbed "the Werewolf," who earlier received two life sentences for 81 murders, another decade behind bars, the press service of the Russian Investigative Department for the Irkutsk Region informed. In 2020, he admitted to another two homicides.

"On June 4, the Angarsky City Court found Mikhail Popkov guilty. Considering the stance of the state prosecution, he was sentenced to 9 years and 8 months in prison. Taking into account Popkov’s previous sentences, his final punishment is a life sentence at a special regime colony," the press service stated.

The brutal murders of two women, for which the ex-cop received a third term, were committed in 1995 in Angarsk. The body of one of the victims has not been found, the court notes. In spite of pleading guilty, Popkov refused to make a final statement.

Mikhail Popkov, also known as "the Werewolf" and the "Angarsk Maniac", committed a string of grisly murders from 1992 to 2010 in the Irkutsk Region. In 2012, he was detained in Vladivostok. His involvement in 81 murders and three attempted murders of women has been confirmed. Popkov is a former policeman who quit the force in 1998. He was handed his first life sentence in January 2015 for 22 murders. In December 2018, he received another life sentence.

According to the results of a psychiatric evaluation, Popkov was diagnosed with homicidal mania, that is, a condition when a person has an irrational desire to kill someone. Nevertheless, the mass murderer was declared sane.

In July 2020, the Investigative Committee revealed that the former cop had admitted to having committed two more homicides. Popkov was transported to the Irkutsk Region’s court proceedings from Mordovia, where he has been doing time at a special colony for criminals sentenced to life terms.

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