MOSCOW, March 27. /TASS/. Russia’s Investigative Committee has charged ex-police officer turned mass murderer Mikhail Popkov, who had been previously sentenced to life imprisonment, with another 60 homicides and attempted murders.
"According to investigators, over a period of 20 years, Popkov committed at least 84 homicides in the city of Irkutsk, the Irkutsk Region, in the city of Angarsk, the Angarsk District, the Usolye-Sibirskoye municipality and the Usolsky District," a source in the Investigative Committee said. He sexually attacked his female victims aged 16 to 40, who varied according to social background, before ruthlessly murdering them.
Mikhail Popkov, an ex-policeman from the city of Angarsk, was arrested in 2012. In January 2015, he received a life sentence for killing 22 women and attempting to murder another two. At the same time, investigators from the Russian Investigative Committee’s Irkutsk Branch succeeded in solving another 60 of his horrific murders, the source added. Detectives looked into more than 350 criminal cases concerning similar crimes committed during previous years that coincide with his killing spree, keeping in mind Popkov’s pattern of behavior described in his confession.
The circumstances that drove him to transform into a bloodthirsty serial killer were studied. The investigators also found witnesses and murder weapons, including axes, screwdrivers and knives, as well as the victims’ personal belongings. More than 900 witnesses were questioned, over 100 probes into their testimonies were conducted at the crime scenes, the bodies of over 20 victims were exhumed.
Crime scenes located in rough, hard-to-get-to terrain, particularly in forests and moorland, were additionally examined using excavators and tractors, while divers explored water reservoirs.
While examining crime scenes, several bodies were discovered dating back 15-20 years, as well as the victims’ bones, their personal belongings and murder weapons.
Experts say that Popkov has never suffered from any sort of mental disorder or dementia. A sexologist came to the conclusion that he is prone to some sadistically homicidal mania.
In the near future, the defendant and his attorney will start reviewing the contents of the case.