“There was panic among citizens”
From April to November 2001, a serial killer operated on the territory of the city of Zelenograd and in the Northern Territory of the capital. The maniac will receive a massive nickname – “Zelenograd Chikatilo”.
The attacks began on April 4, 2001 in the Zelenograd forest park – an elderly Muscovite became the first victim of a maniac. In the evening he walked down the deserted Lesnye Prudy street to visit his sister and drove a carriage with potatoes. The killer attacked him from behind and smashed his head with a few hammer blows. The woman died immediately, the perpetrator escaped with his potatoes. Then another victim and three others were injured.
At the same time, all the women who were attacked were robbed: the criminal took almost everything from umbrellas to handbags. However, sometimes gold jewelry remained on the bodies of the victims.
“As soon as I learned about a maniac – the city is small, and rumors spread quickly – panic began among the residents. I then worked at a store in that area, it was scary as hell – I had to wait an extra two hours after work for my husband to arrive and we drove home together. I forbade my eldest son to approach uncrowded places and walk in the evening, ”says Zoya, a resident of Zelenograd.
Police officers began to actively search for the perpetrator only after completing the first series of attacks. At the same time, the patrols did not come to the forest park, where the maniac was working, but a series of identical images appeared in the local newspaper, which, as it turned out in the future, had little in common with his real face. maniac shared by Zoya.
“The people themselves patrolled the road from the stop – now it is not customary to unite in people’s teams, but then it was the only hope that no one would be killed. It seems that this maniac, having learned that the citizens were so selfless, hit rock bottom, ”said the author.
The victim pulled out a hammer
The next burst of activity came in the summer of 2001. There were at least four more attacks – all women managed to survive. Law enforcement tried to paint a portrait of the suspect, but none of the victims remembered exactly what Zelenograd Chikatilo looked like. Finally, police teams appeared in the forest park as well as volunteers.
“We breathed a little, because the tension was already so strong. His wife and friends were afraid to even go out into the street, so in the evening they had to gather everyone in the car and meet with someone on foot. I am a big man, I was once engaged in karate, I was not afraid, but the feeling that someone was coming from behind did not leave me, ”says Zelenograd resident Yevgeny.
The series owner decided that Zelenograd was no longer an accessible place for attacks and moved to the Northern District of Moscow, located at a good distance from the previous female hunting ground. Still no one knew him and he was not afraid, which gave the maniac more opportunities.
The criminal decided to operate directly in the capital from the second half of October to November 2001. The type of victims was the same, and the place – dark forest parks. The weapon was the same hammer. During this time he carried out at least five attacks on women, with two victims of the perpetrator dying from his injuries.
However, there was a case when Chikatilo of Zelenograd miscalculated – on October 25, 2001, a young Muscovite was returning home from a party when he suddenly heard footsteps and turned around. There was already a hand with a hammer over her head, but the girl managed to escape, and the gun just slid over her head.
The girl snatched a hammer from the maniac’s hand and fled. But high heels prevented him.
Then he turned to the criminal and hit him twice in the head – he lost consciousness and the Muscovite went to the nearest traffic police station.
After the law enforcement officers interrogated him for a long time, the killer managed to wake up and escape. But the girl kept her hammer and hood, which she pulled from her face. These items became important evidence and later helped to prove the hijacker’s guilt. Fearing setback, the maniac calmed down for two weeks.
Tears during interrogation
The last crime was committed on the evening of November 12 in Friendship Park – a maniac attacked a lonely woman. But the bus driver Anatoly Sukhov, who was walking nearby, interfered with their plans, rushing to screams. The killer in a panic threw the victim and attacked the man with a hammer, but could not cope with it. Sukhov twisted it alone.
For the arrest of a particularly dangerous criminal, Anatoly Sukhov was awarded – he was given a watch and a bouquet of flowers on behalf of the Moscow Central Internal Affairs Directorate.
“Zelenograd Chikatilo” turned out to be 39-year-old Muscovite Yuri Gritsenko. At first she was mistaken for a banal robber, because, according to the testimony of the victim, she tried to take a bag from her hand. However, already on the second day, when the check confirmed the fact that she resided in Zelenograd, Gritsenko was associated with the spring-summer attacks on women in this city.
Ironically, the last victim at the hands of a maniac was the accountant of the same police department he was taken to after his arrest.
During the interrogations in the isolation cell, Gritsenko cried a lot in front of the video cameras. He actively cooperated with the investigation and regretted his actions.
He also talked in detail about all the attacks and admitted that he was devastated by the situation with the girl who took his hammer away. According to Gritsenko, she was very worried that she changed her own rule to attack middle-aged and older women.
“I liked the sound of the blow, the feeling of the impact”
One of the factors that pushed Gritsenko to attack was drunkenness – he turned out to be a drunk alcoholic. When the banquet was over, he came to his senses and lay down on the ground. In a hangover state, he never attacked women. He was very weak and cowardly in daily life.
During a psychiatric examination in April 2002, Gritsenko honestly admitted that he was most impressed by the possibility of the attacks inflicting maximum suffering on their victims. “He liked hitting the most with a hammer, he liked the sound of a blow, the feeling of a blow…”.
He spent the victims’ money, but kept their belongings as trophies. They did not interest him as a material value, but as a memory of experienced excitements.
On June 14, 2002, the investigative proceedings against Gritsenko were completed and sent to court – he was charged with 14 assaults and robberies, four murders and attempted murder. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison. Zelenogradsky Chikatilo should come out in 2024 and will be 62 years old by then.
Source: Gazeta
