Mikhail Popkov is one of the most popular and richest Militsiya who was born on March 7, 1964 in Russia, Soviet Union. Popkov admitted to another 59 killings two years later. This total surpasses the Russian serial killers Alexander Pichushkin and Andrei Chikatilo. After a trial at the Siberian regional court, Popkov was convicted of 56 more murders. The three other alleged killings were not confirmed by evidence. He received a second sentence of life.
Popkov was suspected of having committed adultery with his wife. Popkov’s victims included all women aged 16-40, with the exception of one male policeman. Popkov considered the female victims to be prostitutes and young, drunken women. Popkov lured women with promises of free rides and sexual assaults, wearing his police uniform, at various times between 1992 and 2010. Popkov used a variety of tools to kill women, including knives, axes and screwdrivers. The mutilations were so horrific that the Russian media linked the crime to the “Angarskmaniac” and “The Werewolf”.
Russian police participated in the search to find one perpetrator. In the mid-1990s, slain women were found and killed using similar methods. Popkov was elusive for over two decades despite extensive inquiries and testimony from survivors. Investigators found a pattern in the tracks of a Lada 4×4, an offroad vehicle used by law enforcement. They were located at many crime scenes. Popkov was captured in the same year after DNA tests were conducted on 3,500 Irkutsk policemen. Popkov was sentenced to life imprisonment for 22 murders, and two attempted murders in January 2015.
One of Russia’s most prolific serial killers, Popkov was convicted of 22 murders in 2015, and confessed to 59 additional homicides three years later. On December 10, 2018 he was convicted for 56 of the 59 additional homicides. For three killings, the police could not find proof. Popkov received a second life sentence. There were calls for Popkov to be executed, but this was unavailable as capital punishment is not allowed in Russia.
