“You lost at the cards”
In the spring of 1970, Voroshilovgrad, the entire administrative center of the Lugansk region, stopped sleeping peacefully. In just a few weeks in March-April, more than ten women were attacked by someone.
At the same time, every street and even stall in Voroshilovgrad was at that time under the close surveillance of the police, and reinforced teams of law enforcement officers went around the city. But the attacks never stopped. In addition, the criminal moved from parks and alleys to small deserted streets and courtyards.
It was impossible to even predict how the maniac would behave. One of the surviving victims said the perpetrator followed them along a deserted street or park when they got home late, and then ran after them, holding a knife to their throats, saying, “You lost on the cards.” Then he demanded an unimaginable 5 thousand rubles in exchange for freedom and life at that time – otherwise he promised to rape and kill.
Others recalled that a “steel-fingered” maniac ran after them, grabbing them by the throat, beating them, stripping them, raping them, and taking various trinkets.
And although operational search activities continued throughout the city, the case did not get off the ground. So far, no substantial evidence has been found at a new crime scene that would later help prove the murderer’s guilt.
Wrong track and unsuccessful tracking
On April 14, 1970, in a transformer box near the then famous Gorky Park, they found the body of a murdered girl who had been strangled from a gag in her mouth in the form of a waffle towel. 17-year-old Svetlana Mazurina was raped and strangled, and on her hands were traces of the braid with which the criminal tied the girl’s wrists. Also, fibers of a woolen scarf were found on the victim’s clothes, and next to the body – an earring removed from him by a maniac – he took the second one with him.
But none of these findings helped to track down the culprit, even after investigations. One day, the police received an anonymous letter from a person who allegedly participated in the latest murder. Written:
“This monster, under the threat of a knife, forced me to rape a lifeless body, but I still managed to disobey this bastard. I asked him to leave the girl’s life. And he replied angrily: “This is impossible.”
Also, the anonymous sender signed the name and place of residence of the “murderer”, giving him a specific name Yuryev. And although the letter was incomprehensible, Yuryev was taken up for development. It was also revealed that he had been previously convicted of rape and theft. However, this version was not confirmed, and the author of the letter was unknown.
Meanwhile, patrol cars continued to roam the parks and gardens, and the cops hiding in the bushes closely watched their traveling partners – bait for the killer. And one day, it paid off.
Then the junior inspector of the criminal investigation department, Lieutenant Demyanenko, was leading his colleague Valentina Udovichenko, who was suddenly followed by a suspicious man in a beige raincoat. Fearing that he would get too close, Demyanenko rushed to intervene and began to run away. The prosecution of the criminal was doomed to failure.
“Greetings from Badger”
A week after the failed arrest, near one of the tram stops, the same man, already prepared with an identity card and directed everywhere, attacked 20-year-old Nina Zotova. According to the old scheme, he talked about losing on cards and demanded that as a ransom he go to a certain address and “say hello from Badger to the stewardess Lida”. The perpetrator also assured him that he would check to see if he did what he said.
When the woman got home, she immediately called the police. Near the entrance where he lived, law enforcement officers took up their posts in the hope that the criminal would return, and they did not lose. One day, they managed to detain a man from an identikit by watching the victim from behind the trees.
The stalker turned out to be 30-year-old driver Vitaly Vlasov, who immediately confessed to 22 attacks, and several raped and murdered women were found in his home. There was only one catch: he hadn’t even heard of some of the crimes he was accused of.
For example, as for the murder of Svetlana Mazurina, the man persistently “refused”. They immediately remembered the scarf, the microparticles of which were found on the victim’s body. After comparing them with Vlasov’s scarves, we learned: they do not match. Also, many surviving victims who identified the attacker claimed they had nothing to do with the person who attacked them.
But there can be no self-incrimination, because the evidence of these episodes, which the criminal admitted, was undeniable. It turns out that another maniac is operating in the city. This confirmed another attack on a woman. Vlasov, whose case was taken to court, was sentenced to 15 years in prison as a result of 22 attacks. The police began to look for another killer.
Military unit calls and red jacket
The elusive maniac, who was roaming free, attacked the girls almost every week. Hundreds of patrol officers detained 40-45 people each evening, even with those who only spoke to one woman in the dark. For several months, the detection of serious crimes in the region reached 97%. Even the wives and relatives of the police officers were drawn to help as bait when they wanted to. But the victims still appeared – again and again.
A new incident happened to Lyubov Grigoryeva. The maniac first strangled her and then disappeared after raping her. The survivor and bloodied girl somehow came to her friend’s house, who was sitting very close to the scene, and called the police.
The entire area was blocked off, and as evidence, the agents found a piece of sheet that acted as a gag. “9” and “6” were stamped with fuzzy numbers. Throughout Voroshilovgrad, only a few establishments marked things with numbers. Among them was the military unit numbered 96444. They turned everything upside down, but the killer was never found. Then another unfortunate detail emerged: the garrison laundry served a dozen more establishments in the city, and the sheets were often mixed. Therefore, part of the page is accessible to everyone. The circle of suspects grew rapidly.
On the same day, there was another attack in the city, the girl was saved from death by her noisy sister, and a day later – on October 25 – a murder was committed. Then the maniac, who killed and raped her, took the red knitted sweater of 20-year-old Larisa Rogova. It is he who will play a cruel joke with the criminal.
Fugitive drowned and found in a pigsty
On the next hunt, the killer went on November 7 – when all Voroshilovgrad went out for a festive show. That same evening, the police called. A worried woman reported that two men dragged a girl in the May Day Park area.
A detachment immediately went to the scene, cordoned off the entire block, and the men were detained one after the other to find out their identities. So there were six people in the police van. One of them was Zaven Almazyan, the most nervous of them all, who immediately admitted that he was a deserter dressed in civilian clothes on a side farm – in a pigsty in his unit. The military unit number is 61436.
Hearing the unit’s number, the police were immediately alarmed. But what if a piece of paper has “three” instead of “nine”? After all, the numbers were fuzzy.
They decided to check on the young man and immediately went to the pigsty. There was a torn sheet on the wall. During the search in the closet, which became the killer’s hiding place, a women’s watch, a manicure set, a powder box and another important piece of evidence were found – the second earring of the murdered Svetlana Mazurina.
The suspect was immediately taken to the branch and were surprised when he took off his jacket: He was wearing a red women’s jacket. Removed from Larisa Rogova.
There was no point in opening all the “trophies” that the detectives took from every crime scene, without exception, in the murderer’s hiding place.
Almazyan admitted everything and identified the main reason – he lacked female love. His passion for wrestling also helped in this case. He was once a budding athlete, but used his favorite “choke” in a completely different way.
For seven months, Zaven Almazyan committed three murders and 12 rapes, for which the Kyiv military district court sentenced him to death.