Sergey Kuznetsov (serial killer)
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1974 (age 51–52)
"The Kryazh Poisoner"
"Junkman"
Sergey Kuznetsov | |
|---|---|
| Born | Sergey Vladimirovich Kuznetsov 1974 (age 51–52) |
| Other names | "The Kryazh Maniac" "The Kryazh Poisoner" "Junkman" |
| Conviction | N/A |
| Criminal penalty | Involuntary commitment |
| Details | |
| Victims | 6–8 |
Span of crimes | 2007 – 2008 (confirmed) 2005 – 2008 (suspected) |
| Country | Russia |
| State | Samara |
Date apprehended | April 4, 2008 |
Sergey Vladimirovich Kuznetsov (Russian: Сергей Владимирович Кузнецов), known as The Kryazh Maniac (Russian: Кряжский маньяк, romanized: Kryazhsky manyak), is a Russian serial killer who poisoned six people in Samara from 2007 and 2008, and is additionally suspected of two earlier murders.
Judged incompetent to stand trial, he was instead interned at a psychiatric institution, where he remains to this day.
Born in Kuybyshev in 1974, Kuznetsov grew up in a normal family with his older brother, but from an early age showed signs of mental illness and was described as withdrawn.[1] At the age of 14, together with his brother, the pair robbed and assaulted a cab driver - for his role in the crime, Sergey was interned at a psychiatric institution.[1] In 1992, Kuznetsov was arrested for attempted murder, but was again ruled unfit to stand trial and put into an institution for treatment. In the following years after his release, he is not known to have committed any crimes.[2]
Kuznetsov lived in the Kirzavod area of the Kuybyshevsky City District, and also owned a garage and dwelling in the village of Kupino.[2] A pathological hoarder, he was unemployed and spent a lot of his time rummaging through garbage dumps looking for large quantities of worn-out clothes, glass bottles and other junk. Throughout all this time, his mental health state gradually worsened.[3]
Neighbors and casual acquaintances were mostly wary and even afraid of Kuznetsov, with most avoiding him due to his odd behavior and "creepy" look. He was noted for always walking around with a checkered bag, a red scarf and a fur hat.[3]
Murders
Kuznetsov committed his first crime in late September 2007 - he approached a man named Igor Petrov at a bar and asked for some money for alcohol, which Petrov gave him.[3] After going first to the bar and then back to his house, Kuznetsov returned carrying his signature bag and handed Petrov a bottle of beer, supposedly to thank him for his generosity. Petrov - who was already slightly inebriated - drank about half the bottle before being knocked out.[3] Kuznetsov then dragged him to an isolated area, stripped him down to his underwear and stole all his clothing. Petrov was found not long afterwards and driven to a hospital, where the doctors concluded that he was poisoned.[3]
Over the next few months, Kuznetsov killed six people in an identical manner - he chose middle-aged or elderly men, often intoxicated, whom he met on the streets. He would offer them alcohol spiked with Azaleptine, and when the victims were rendered unconscious, Kuznetsov would drag them to the "Volgar" state farm, where he robbed and strangled them, abandoning the bodies in a forest belt.[4] He would then steal small sums of money, clothes, cell phones and documents, which he would store in his apartment in a pile of garbage.[5]
The murders occurred on November 30, 2007 (Mr. Samylin); December 14 (Alexander Oreshkin); December 19 (Mr. Chernyshov); December 20 (Mr. Alekseev); December 29 (Mr. Pudovkin) and January 2008 (Mr. Deinekin).[6] Most of the victims' first names were not revealed, except for Oreshkin, the second chronological victim.[7] The investigators rather quickly linked all the criminal cases into one, and a special investigative unit was formed to solve them.[5]