Andrei Zakharchenko

Last updated
Andrei Zakharchenko
Born
Andrei Leonidovich Zakharchenko

1978 (age 45–46)
Kartaly, Chelyabinsk Oblast, RSFSR
Other names"The Kartaly Arsonist Maniac"
"The Pyromaniac Maniac"
Conviction(s) Murder x11
Criminal penaltyUnknown (2000s)
Life imprisonment (2016)
Details
Victims11
Span of crimes
2000s–2014
CountryRussia
State(s) Chelyabinsk
Date apprehended
2000s
March 2014

Andrei Leonidovich Zakharchenko (born 1978), known as the Kartaly Arsonist Maniac, is a Russian serial killer and arsonist who set fires around his hometown of Kartaly from the 2000s until 2014, killing 11 people. He was later convicted of these crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Contents

Early life

Andrei Zakharchenko was born in 1978 in Kartaly, Chelyabinsk Oblast. [1] His parents were alcoholics who often beat him and did not care about raising him, leaving the young boy to do mostly whatever he wanted. During his school years, he was an outcast and unpopular with girls and was also bullied due to his slim build and short stature. This led to Zakharchenko losing all interest in his studies and receiving mostly mediocre grades. [2]

After completing the ninth grade, Zakharchenko began a life of crime. In the 2000s, he was repeatedly prosecuted for theft and once for murder, for which he served a prison sentence. After his most recent release, Zakharchenko struggled to find employment due to his prison record and resorted to working in manual labor and stealing to survive. [2]

Murders

2011 quadruple murder

Zakharchenko committed his first murders on the night of May 11 to 12, 2011. The day before, he went to the apartment of his friend Vyacheslav Bondar to celebrate his birthday. [2] Other guests present were Yevgenia Shandolinova, Zakharchenko's ex-wife, from whom he had separated a few months earlier; Zakharchenko's infant daughter; and Shandolinova's mother, Natalia. For several hours, all of the guests spent time drinking alcohol, and around the early evening, Zakharchenko left the apartment. On his way home, he realized that he had forgotten his cellphone and decided to return; however, he decided to sneak in so he could also steal some items from the place. [1]

After waiting until nightfall, Zakharchenko approached the apartment and climbed up to the second floor via a gas pipe. At that time, everybody inside was asleep, so Zakharchenko took his cellphone and stole 60 rubles and a pair of women's shoes. [1] Fearing potential repercussions and having grudges against his ex-wife and friend, he doused the wall with flammable liquid and set it on fire—the fire quickly spread and killed all of the occupants. Zakharchenko managed to escape by climbing down the pipe. [2]

Smoke coming out of the apartment was soon noticed by some neighbors, who immediately called the police. After extinguishing the fire, officers found four bodies, all of whom died from carbon monoxide poisoning. It was quickly established that the fire was set deliberately, and due to being present at the celebration, Zakharchenko was immediately suspected. [2] However, while reviewing the surveillance footage installed in front of the house, investigators only saw footage of him leaving the residence a few hours prior to the fire, leading to Zakharchenko being dismissed as a suspect at the time. [2]

Further crimes

In September of the same year, Zakharchenko committed another arson in order to kill a woman he disliked. After making sure that the woman and her grandmother were asleep, he set fire to the house's roofing, but the victims awoke in time and extinguished it. [3]

Zakharchenko's next murder occurred in September 2012. The victim was a middle-aged acquaintance whose identity was never established. While the two men were drinking, they got into a quarrel during which Zakharchenko struck him numerous times using his hands, feet and a stone, causing the man to lose consciousness. [1] He then threw the man into an earthen pit but then noticed that he was still showing signs of life—he then climbed down and kicked him in the head before covering the pit with garbage and branches and fleeing. The victim later succumbed to the injuries and suffocated from the garbage piled on top of him. After the attack, Zakharchenko stole DVDs and a bicycle from the victim. [2]

The final murders occurred on March 25–26, 2014. On that night, he went to a house on Pionersky Lane to visit a longtime acquaintance, where he eventually got into an argument with her because she rejected his romantic advances and allowed a friend of hers to insult him. [2] Angered by this, he came back later in the night while the acquaintance and the friend, as well as three children aged 5, 9, and 11, respectively, were all sleeping. [3] Zakharchenko managed to get into the hallway of the house, after which he doused various objects with flammable liquid and set fire to them. Due to the fact that the house was dilapidated and wooden, the fire quickly engulfed it from the outside and inside, after which Zakharchenko fled. As a result, all occupants were asphyxiated to death from the flames. [3]

Arrest, investigation and trial

During the investigation into the 2011 mass murder, investigators linked it to another arson and eventually to Zakharchenko, who was acquainted with all the victims. Soon afterwards, a friend of one of the women informed the police that the deceased had had an argument with Zakharchenko, after which he was arrested. [2]

Zakharchenko immediately admitted responsibility for all of the murders and actively cooperated with the officers but showed no remorse and sincerely believed that all of his victims deserved to die because of the insults hurled at him. [2] As part of the investigation, more than 50 witnesses were interviewed and more than 25 forensic examinations were conducted, resulting in him being charged with multiple counts of murder, attempted murder, destruction of property, arson and unlawful entry. [2]

After he was ruled sane to stand trial, Zakharchenko was brought to trial. During the proceedings, it was reported that he laughed when the charges against him were read out. [4] On February 29, 2016, the Chelyabinsk Regional Court found him guilty on all counts and sentenced Zakharchenko to life imprisonment. [5] In addition, he was ordered to pay 2.5 million rubles to the victims' family members and an additional 470,000 rubles for property damage. [1] All of his appeals were denied by the Supreme Court, and he is now serving his sentence at a special regime colony. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Bychkov</span> Russian serial killer

Alexander Vladimirovich Bychkov is a Russian serial killer and cannibal convicted for the murder of nine men in Belinsky, Penza Oblast between 2009 and 2012.

Sergey Vladimirovich Zastynchanu, known as The Koptevsky Maniac is a Moldovan serial killer who operated mainly in the north of Moscow.

Sergei Ivanovich Dovzhenko is a Ukrainian serial killer. A former operative of the Mariupol police, he confessed to committing 19 murders between November 1998 and May 2002 in his native city. Among his victims are a 12-year-old girl, four employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and one Yugoslav citizen.

Dmitry Sharifyanovich Karimov, known as The Concrete Products Maniac, is a Russian serial rapist and serial killer, who raped 10 women from 2005 to 2006, killing 7 of them.

Vladimir Petrovich Tushinsky was a Russian serial killer, rapist and pedophile. Between September 2010 and February 2014, he killed five girls aged between 11 and 22 in the Kamchatka Krai. In the media, he was nicknamed The Kamchatka Chikatilo. He was detained on February 17, 2014, and charged with murder, as well as raping his underage stepdaughter. On February 19, 2016, the Kamchatka Regional Court sentenced him to life imprisonment, with the Supreme Court of Russia upholding the verdict without change. On August 5, 2016, while he was being transferred to the colony on Ognenny Ostrov, Tushinsky suddenly died.

Roman Sergeevich Kalinin is a Russian rapist and serial killer, who operated in the Chitinsky District of the Zabaykalsky Krai, killing 4 people between 2003 and 2009.

Vladimir Sergeevich Zhukov, known as The Nizhegorodsky Chikatilo, is a Russian serial killer, rapist and pedophile.

Timofey Mikhailovich Podshivalov, known as The Zakamsky Maniac , is a Russian serial killer who operated in Perm in 2011. He is considered one the worst killers in the history of Perm, although his exact motives remain unknown.

Vladimir Viktorovich Mirgorod, known as The Strangler, is a Russian serial killer who killed 18 people from 2002 to 2004. He was detained in 2010 when his fingerprints matched with those found at the crime scenes. In 2012, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Artur Ahnafovich Shayakhmetov, known as The Astrakhan Killer, is a Russian serial killer and mass murderer who killed a total of nine people in Astrakhan from 2002 to 2010, aided by two accomplices in some of the murders. He was found guilty of the respective crimes in two separate trials, for which he received two life terms.

Murad Magomedzapirovich Nurmagomedov, known as The Kaspiysk Chikatilo, is a Russian serial killer who killed four acquaintances in Moscow Oblast and Dagestan from 2013 to 2016, and remains a suspect in a 2004 murder. Convicted for the latter crimes, he was sentenced to 18 years imprisonment.

Farit Gabdulkhayevich Gabidullin and Timur Gabdulkhayevich Gabidullin are Soviet-Russian twin brothers and serial killers who were responsible for at least 14 murders and rapes of young girls and women around Chelyabinsk Oblast from 1989 to 2000. Both were convicted and sentenced for their respective roles in the crimes, but some suspect that they might have killed many more people than the amount they were convicted of.

Andrei Fyodorovich Melyukh, known as The Brick Maniac, is a Russian serial killer who killed ten pensioners and wounded ten more during robberies in Chelyabinsk from 2000 to 2002. He was eventually captured, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Denis Alekseevich Gorbunov, known as The Ad Killer, was a Russian serial killer who murdered five women during robberies in Chelyabinsk from December 2004 to May 2005. Convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for his crimes, he killed himself two days after his conviction.

Dmitry Nikolayevich Kopylov, known as The Youth Maniac, is a Russian serial killer and rapist who killed four women and one man around the Chelyabinsk Oblast from 2004 to 2005. He is noted for the fact that he committed all of his crimes before reaching the age of majority and that he is one of the youngest serial killers in modern Russian history.

Serhiy Steblyakov, known as The Old Lady Strangler, is a Ukrainian serial killer who, together with accomplices Azamat and Robert Kardanov, robbed and killed five people in Moscow from March to May 2010. Considered the ringleader of the trio, Steblyakov was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, while the Kardanovs received lesser sentences after pleading guilty.

Stanislav Nikolayevich Beloruscev is a Russian serial killer who committed at least 12 murders in Krasnokamsk, Perm Krai, from 2001 to 2009. Initially convicted of a triple murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, he has since confessed to nine other murders over a period of several years.

Arsen Salavatovich Bayrambekov is a Russian serial killer and contract killer who murdered six people in the Sverdlovsk Oblast in 2014. Despite the severity of his crimes, he managed to avoid a life term and was instead sentenced to 13 years and 2 months imprisonment.

Roman Valeryevich Kobyzev is a Russian serial killer who committed four murders in Stavropol and Krasnodar Krai from 1996 to 1997, and a double murder in 2014. After evading arrest for two decades, he was finally apprehended after his final murder, tried, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "В Челябинской области убийца 10 человек, в том числе четырех детей, получил пожизненный срок" [In the Chelyabinsk region, the killer of 10 people, including four children, received a life sentence]. NEWSru (in Russian). March 1, 2016. Archived from the original on December 27, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Hellfire
  3. 1 2 3 Vladimir Vasin (June 10, 2015). "В Челябинске будут судить маньяка-пиромана. «Он заживо сжег десять человек»" [A pyromaniac maniac will be tried in Chelyabinsk. "He burned ten people alive"]. Ura.news (in Russian). Archived from the original on December 27, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Убийца 10 человек рассмеялся в зале суда" [Killer of 10 People Laughs in Court]. 31tv.ru (in Russian). June 26, 2015. Archived from the original on December 27, 2024.
  5. ↑ Marina Malkova (February 29, 2016). "Серийный поджигатель получил пожизненный срок за убийство 10 человек" [Serial arsonist gets life sentence for killing 10 people]. 74.ru (in Russian). Archived from the original on December 27, 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.