Hammer murders terrorize Dnepropetrovsk in 2007 | Forensic Files

[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at
anytime you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website today's episode features a series of
extremely violent and graphic attacks against people and animals it won't be suitable for all listeners
in December 2008 veteran journalist Caitlin Moran was surfing the web when she came across a link on a chat board
the link was accompanied with the message see if you can keep your breakfast down and after watching this I
couldn't over dramatic titles and comments compelling users to click links are a common sight in the Internet age
there's even a turn for them clickbait Caitlin Moran took the bait in Caitlin's words the link took us to some
footage shot on a mobile phone in some bland murky woodland it appears to be early summer 15 feet away there's a man
on the ground it's immediately clear that a great many terrible things have happened to him quite recently and that
it will die very very soon she watched 1 minute and 47 seconds of the eight-minute video before turning it
off she couldn't stomach anymore however that short amount of time was etched into her memory a horror that would
never leave her [Music] settled on the banks of the neva river in the south-central part of Ukraine is
the city of Dnieper located near 400 kilometers southeast from the capital of Kiev
Denis Pro his Ukraine's fourth largest city with a population of around 1 million people considered the major
industrial center of Ukraine the cityscape is dotted with unsightly enterprises and manufacturing plants
devoted to heavy industry residue from an industrial boom during the Soviet era the city was one of the most important
manufacturing cities in the Soviet Union producing many goods from small articles
like screws and vacuum cleaners to where craft engine pieces and ballistic missiles the city itself is
characterized by its mix of architectural styles remnants of its rich history from Russian neoclassical
structures of ornamental brick and stone to ambitious and unfinished Soviet architecture a symbol of poor economic
planning which has plagued the city ever since it's not uncommon to find very large potholes and crumbling surfaces on
many of the city's smaller roads trams along the leafy main strips are often in poor technical state a metro system
opened in 1995 consists of one line with just six stations work on other stations
was abandoned when the city ran out of money nevertheless Denis Pro is a powerhouse of Ukraine's business and
politics the native city of many of the country's most important figures tourists flood the city visiting the
various theaters museums parks restaurants and beaches by 2015 Deak immunization law out lured communist
symbols within the city to comply with the law in May 2016 the official name of the city was shortened to Dnieper but
prior to 2016 the city was named after Grigory Petrovski the communist leader of Ukraine
back then the city was called to any proper troughs IND any proper trough skin 1988 two baby
boys were born first came Victor sayenko on March 1 and a less than two months later on April 20 he gore soprano
entered the world although living in the industrial city both boys were born into
privilege or at least the comfortable middle class Victor's father was a computer engineer who worked with Public
Prosecutions and Igor as father was a pilot who spent several years flying around the
president of independent Ukraine both boys had mothers who doted on them Igor and Victor met at school and became
instant friends they formed a trio with another boy Alexander honza who was Victor's friend since
kindergarten and the oldest by two weeks Alexander did not have the wealth of his
friends he lived in the poorer part of town where it was said rats the size of dogs roamed to the building's he had
only his mother his father died when he was a baby the boys often found mischief their
first brush with the law occurred when they were caught throwing stones and moving trains when police knocked on
Victor's door and demanded compensation his parents paid up and grilled Victor when he explained that Eagle was the
instigator of the incident they forbade Victor from seeing him yet Victor did not obey his parents they didn't bother
following through on their punishment and soon Victor was back in the company of Igor the boys had a normal and
seemingly happy upbringing although none of them liked attending school or doing
their studies Igor and Victor had home computers and they enjoyed messing around on the Internet
as they grew into teens they got mobile phones and they began to photograph in document everything they did
Igor his mother had returned to her job as a high-ranking employee of the district State Administration and so
eagle was left to entertain himself unsupervised a lot during their time at secondary school in
Denney proper troughs the boys lived in fear of older and strongest students by the victor and Eagle were also
frightened of heights and they were worried that this weakness would encourage bullies igor searched the
internet for advice on how to overcome acrophobia and read that the best method was the face such fears head-on
this led the boys to stand on a balcony of a 14th floor apartment for hours hanging over the railing and staring
straight down at the ground eventually their fear of heights subsided and they deemed to face your fears method of
getting over phobias a success with their new fee under confidence Viktor Igor and Alexander became increasingly
aggressive and anti-social towards anyone they perceived as weaker than them picking on younger smaller boys as
the leader of the three boys Igor led the group into increasingly serious acts of vandalism and hooliganism he had
developed a fondness for a Dolph Hitler and would proudly tell everyone that he shared the Firoz birthday he liked to
take photos of himself with a drawn on toothbrush style mustache in front of swastikas he sprayed onto any surface he
could fallen in eighth grade Igor brutally beat another child and stole his bicycle which he then sold to
Viktor although he drew the attention of police Igor was not charged it was rumoured that this was due to the
intervention of his influential parents Victor's parents again forbade him to be
friends with Igor but they didn't supervise the boy or question where he was going when he went out so the boys
continued to see each other in 2002 a teacher complained to that Igor and Alexander had committed what was
described as hooligan acts against it rather than charges being brought the boys were separated Igor was transferred
to a neighboring school and Alexander was sent to a vocational school it didn't stop the young trio from
terrorizing the district but nobody would notify the police because of the influence of Eagles parents his father
was seemingly able to make any unpleasant issue simply disappeared Egor and Viktor had been happy with the
results of their experiment for baiting their fear of heights when Alexander admitted to them that he
had a phobia of blood Egor suggested using the same method to overcome his aversion Alexander would have to get up
close and personal with large amounts of blood in order to beat his fear there were many stray and wild animals
in the forest area near Alexander's house the boys took to capturing dogs and cats and slaughtering them they kept
this up long after Alexander overcame his blood phobia when killing wasn't enough to satisfy they moved on to
torture Igor would use the animal blood to paint swastikas on trees or fences nearby they would also take photos of
each other posing with the animal carcasses collecting hundreds of gruesome pictures they believed that
torturing animals would help them become tougher in adulthood one day they fashioned a wooden cross
that they hung in the garage of one of the boys homes they nailed a white kitten to a crucifixion style then took
turns shooting at it with pistols loaded with rubber bullets they filmed the kittens ordeal laughing has a died
meanwhile the adults in their lives were seemingly oblivious to what the three teenagers were getting up to when they
are not at school or home Igor's parents led very busy lives with their high-powered jobs and his father was
often away for long periods flying Victor's father also spent a great deal of time at work but his mother was at
home in 2005 when the trio were all around 17 years old they set upon and beat up two 15 year old boys there's
nothing to say why they chose those two targets or if their attack was motivated
by anything what the records do say is that the trio pounded the smaller boys in the face until they were a bloody
mess the victim suffered from concussion broken bones and permanently disfigured
faces the parents of the victims tried to bring charges against Dave or Victor and
Alexander but once again Eagle is well-connected and influential father intervened they got off with little more
than a stern talking-to by their parents after graduating high school Victor went
to the Denny proper troughs going and steel academy to study Python while studying he took on a job as a security
guard neither of these things appealed to him nearly as much as playing around on the Internet
hay and Eagle had discovered and enjoyed pursuing goal websites the pair became obsessed with looking at photos and
videos of real murders they watched footage of drug cartel bosses torturing and executing and beheadings performed
by extremists or terrorist groups until they were no longer shocked by anything the sites had to offer at the same time
Eagles father bought him a car as a graduation present a green Daewoo bird Eagle was not in any hurry to get a job
to get his father off his back about finding employment igor declared his de word to be a taxi cab and became an
unlicensed taxi driver the taxi became the perfect ruse to cover up the new favorite pastime of igor victor and
alexander the boys had taken to robbing people attacking strangers and stealing phones wallets and jewelry
quite often they would pick up people in eagles car masquerading as a taxi then they take their unsuspecting victims
somewhere quiet and rob them Alexander had drifted between odd jobs but was unemployed for much of the time coming
from a poor household he saw the robberies as a necessity unlike Alexander neither Igor Norfolk
that needed the money they did it for the thrill Alexander would later say he was becoming increasingly uneasy with
the activities of his friends and the recklessness with which they would attack people fearing they might
accidentally kill someone after two armed robberies on March 1 2007 Alexander claimed that he would not take
part in them anymore in early June 2007 Igor and Viktor picked up a man and a woman in their
makeshift taxi to rob them as usual previously the pair would conduct their robberies at night to give them the
cover of darkness but this time they picked up their victims in daylight worried that the couple got a good look
at them in their car by which they could be identified Igor and Viktor decided that a logical step was to kill them no
details can be found in public records on how Igor and Viktor carried out the deed whether they planned it first or
who did what to whom all we know is that crossing the line from robbery to murder
apparently didn't disturb them it excited him on the evening of June 25 2007 33 year-old ekaterina real cheng
co-hosted an evening at her home in denny proper troske in attendance was her best friend as
well as her mother Natalya a sociable and outgoing woman a Katharina was a teacher at the local
university and participated in local sports over dinner she spoke of her recent holiday to Turkey there was a
good night spent laughing talking and eating at around 10 p.m. a Katerina offered to walk her friend home they
invited a Katerina's mother Natalya to accompany them but she was too tired as the girls left to make the short walk
Natalya settled into bed after a heavy sleep Natalya woke up at around 4:30 a.m. a sense that something wasn't quite
right compelled her to check her daughter's room hey Katarina's bed had not been slept in
in fact it didn't appear as though she had come home at all at 5 a.m. Natalya left the house and went outside to
search for her daughter a short way down the path she spotted three women huddled
around something on the ground as Natalya approached she realized the women were crowded around a body
it was a daughter hey Katarina laying a pool of blood her hands stiff before her
face as if she had been protecting herself from something Natalia later recalled the horror quote
there was no face only parts of it Natalia screamed to the women that is my daughter call the police anda then
collapsed not far away early morning Park walkers discovered the body of 45 year old Roman Tata
ravaged homeless Roman had dozed off after a drinking binge on a park bench his body was found in a similar way to a
cat arenas both their heads had been struck multiple times with a blunt object to the point of being
unrecognizable that same night another man Victor Perez was attacked to me his housing estate he too was struck in the
face he was fortunate that a woman from a nearby hair salon began shouting she frightened the attackers away leaving
the 58 year old man in a pool of blood but alive six days later on July 1 two more bodies were found
Eugene Grushenka ended nikolai search or little is known about their murders or the victims themselves they too were
beaten so badly with a heavy object that their skull split open five days after that on July 6 the two young killers had
their most prolific day yet Victor had spent the day and evening with his girlfriend he then called Igor to come
and pick him up the two decided they would carry out a few robberies before bed to earn some extra money
Igor and natural odd a young man recently discharged from the Army was heading home in the early hours after a
fun night out drinking and clubbing he made it almost inside his house when attacked from behind
neighbors were startled by the blood-curdling screams of a girl's mother when she discovered her son's
bloodied body on the doorstep just around the corner from where the returned servicemen lived nighttime
security guard yelena SRAM was walking home after finishing her shift early because she
wasn't feeling well yelena was a hard-working single mother who walked the five blocks home from
work regularly she was almost home when she came upon her killers Elena's mother
would later say quote there was not a part of her that was not destroyed when we arrived at the morgue
we couldn't recognize her tasked with the job of identifying the body Elena's sister could only rely on her clothes
and and hair then valentina hands are a mother of three who also had been the sole carer for her disabled husband was
murdered shortly after yelena there had now been seven similar murders in less than two weeks in an area of little more
than a million people despite the similarities in the attacks local police had yet to link them no warnings were
issued to the residents of the industrial district that had arranged killer or killers were on the loose
the following day July 7 13 year old Andre City York and 14 year old of adamantly iqaf from Paducah hrodna
around 15 kilometers from Demi proper troske woke up extra early to head off to catch fresh fish as a treat for their
mothers the two young friends had gone fishing together many times and usually had a
third boy with them but their friend was not allowed out for this trip it was still dark and would be for some time
his mother was afraid something might happen to him and refused to let him go fishing so Andre and vadym set off on
their bicycles without him carrying nothing but their fishing rods as they paddled along the familiar country road
leading to the samara river a green colored taxi overtook them it stopped a little way ahead the two occupants got
out of the vehicle and stood in the middle of the dark road as the teenagers approached on their bikes The Strangers
turned and swung sharply at them with heavy pipes knocking them to the ground Andre was knocked unconscious
immediately but vadym managed to jump up and start running like something out of
a horror movie he heard the taxi engine roar as he ran it started to bear down on him
Nevadans intimate knowledge of the area that had been his home all his life served him well he veered off into the
surrounding bush land where he found a place to heart the taxi slowed and passed the area where vadym had left the
road although petrified he managed to stay quiet while the driver of the taxi continued to search for him after a
while the car turned away and returned back from where it came once he was sure that the attackers had gone had him
emerged from the shrubbery and rushed to check on his friend Andre lay in a pool
of blood his face was crushed but he was still breathing he appeared to be trying
to say something but it was impossible to make out any words vadym tried to stop some of the bleeding
with his t-shirt and put his jacket under Andres head to comfort him before heading to a busier road to try and get
help car sped by the frantic blood-spattered teenager until finally someone stopped
and agreed to take the boys to the hospital Andre was pronounced dead on arrival of Adam's nightmare was only
just beginning though when the police arrived at the hospital they promptly arrested him for the murder of his
friend according to his mother they wouldn't allow him to call her before snatching him from hospital to
interrogate him back at the station when the traumatized teenager began to pass out in the backseat of the police
vehicle a policeman poked him violently with his weapon to wake him up at the station they grilled vadym about the
death of Andre in Fantom maintained to the story of the two pipe wielding taxi driving killers and provided police with
physical descriptions of the attackers to yung lean Caucasian men with short dark hair unconvinced of his bizarre
story police tried to shake vadym by threatening to keep him in a Cell overnight and later sent him to a youth
detention center when vadym story didn't change police finally contacted his mother who arrived
shortly after she wasn't allowed to comfort Fadem nor accompany him and during police questioning
according to her police beat her son in an attempt to get him to confess to the murder only after she threatened to go
to the public prosecutor was vadym finally released vadym was racked with nightmares and
could not be left alone afraid the killers would come back for him now that there was an eyewitness police
finally started looking into similar crimes in the preceding wakes searching for a link to the murder of Andre armed
with sketches from badams descriptions police stepped up the hunt for the two young killers bringing in detectives
from Kiev although no official announcement was made the people of Denny proper trust talked among
themselves news spread that there were killers on the loose preying on the weak and vulnerable
the locals dubbed them did any proper traffic maniacs it was clear to the town's folk that a serial killer was
carrying out the attacks but there was no pattern among the victims as experts pointed out serial killers nearly always
prefer a specific type of victim but these people had nothing in common there were a range of different people
innocently going about their business apparently attacked at random the killers appeared to deliberately target
victims who were not likely to be able to fight back the elderly drunks young teenagers or unsuspecting women who were
simply in the wrong place at the wrong time [Music] thank you for listening we'll be back
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slash case file zip recruiter the smartest way to hire Sergei yatsenko had cheated death twice
around in 1990 while working on a farm he lost control of the tractor he was driving and I rolled into the river he
could have jumped out of the cabin when he tried to save the expensive farm machinery for its owner and we end up
pinned under water by the time he was freed Sergei was clinically dead from drowning rescuers managed to resuscitate
him and get him to hospital where doctors declared his survival a one-in-a-million chance a young father
at the time Sergei went on to devote himself to his family he had a wife Ludmila who adored him and two sons who
grew up to be fine young men and who married young women whom Sergei came to love as if they were his own daughters
Sergei worked hard to give his family everything they needed he was a wonderful cook a loving father always
cheerful and met all of life's challenges with good humour when a grandson came along Sergei could not be
happier he took it upon himself to teach his daughter-in-law how to swaddle and bathe the baby
Sergei couldn't get enough of caring for and playing with his grandson and taking
him for long walks Sergei his life was dealt a second blow when he developed a cancerous tumor in
his throat the needed emergency surgery there was another life-and-death moment for Sergei which he faced with strength
and dignity Sergei is wife ludmila said quote when the tumor was discovered he did not
complain he did not whine he took everything like a man they were both over joyed when the
operation was successful but as a result Sergey was left unable to speak in anything more than a whisper of a few
words at a time he lost his job but Lyudmila said his family heard him and that was what mattered people often
spoke of Serge's kindness and gentle nature but he was also a proud man he looked after his unwell mother as well
as his wife and the four dogs that he had given her home to unable to sit at home and feel sorry for himself he
accepted any odd job that others would offer him he was happy to take on building tasks fixing cars
garbage collection driving or make deliveries on his motorbike according to Ludmila he even waved baskets and
fashioned household goods his voice was slowly being restored and he could speak
whole sentences though still in a whisper on the afternoon of July 12 2007 48 year-old Sergei told his wife Ludmila
that he was going to get some fuel for his motorbike afterwards he planned to go and see his grandson just as he did
every chance he could get Sergei set off along the quiet wooded shortcut that led
to the highway between Denny proper troske and the village of Tehran ski later that evening
Sergey failed to return home Ludmila caught his mobile phone but there was no answer she then found her
daughter-in-law only to find out Sergei never arrived to her place as he planned
the Miller immediately knew something wasn't right Sergei would always let her know where
he was and if he was going to be late Ludmila was worried her husband had had an accident or fallen ill as he was
inclined to overexert himself ukrainian regulations meant she could not file a missing-persons report until he had been
missing for 72 hours she didn't sleep that night the following day was spent posting flyers and photographs of her
husband around town and asking others if they had seen him nobody heard Ludmila did not give up she continued to
scour the streets enlisting help from family and friends until exhaustion forced her to return home it was two
days later when Ludmila received a phone call and motorbike that matched the description of the one who missing
husband had been riding was spotted lying in a bush off a nearby highway the men who had spotted her led Ludmilla and
her sons to the location the family searched the area trudging the dense woodland along the road where they
eventually came across a body they recognized that immediately from the gray neatly pressed suit
it was Sergey his face had been destroyed on July 14 two young homeless siblings her brother and sister were
carrying in a Hut of rags and cardboard they had built tucked away in a secluded
part of Denny proper troske they watched as 45 year old Natalya mum Shahrukh drove past on her moped as she drove
towards two young men loitering nearby one knocked her off her moped then dragged her into nearby bushes when
police arrived Natalya was found in the shrub beaten to death the two siblings were able to give police a clear
description of the perpetrators which matched tho is provided by young vadym Lea cough rumours of a pair of
psychopaths at large were now sweeping the city of Denny proper troske late night clubs and restaurants in the
district and city outskirts were empty tourists stayed away from the industrial centre children were kept inside the
tension was made all the more unbearable by the Silence of the news and to the absence of any official information from
the police over the next few days from July 14 to 16 two mutilated corpses were discovered in and around at any proper
troughs every day each one struck in the face repeatedly with a blunt instrument
and many of them stopped as they lay on the ground in most cases the mutilation rendered the victims unrecognizable
denne proper troske was now host to an unusual number of funerals young vadym and the iqaf was forbidden by his mother
to attend at the memorial service of his friend Andre CityWalk as he was still traumatized by the murder and the police
then trying to blame him for it perhaps if vadym had attended he would have noticed two uninvited and familiar
looking guests Igor and Victor would attend the funerals and grave sites of their victims to take selfies in some
photos they give their headstones the middle finger has one final act of humiliation and disrespect more murders
followed in such rapid succession that there is little information available about individual victims in records or
newspaper reports from the time a task force established to find to those responsible grew to encompass almost
every single law-enforcement officer in the region officials would later say that they had over 2,000 police officers
dedicated to the hunt for the two young male killers still this information was kept out of the newspapers both to avoid
panic and in the hope that the suspects wouldn't know the police were on to them
this was despite the killer's knowing that they had been spotted several times and had even left some survivors
seventy-year-old of lydia macaroon yeshiva was walking her three dogs near her home when she noticed two young men
nearby taking photographs she assumed too that they were looking at the nearby real estate and didn't think of much of
it as the path found its way through bushes secluded for many people who might be about she was struck from
behind and fell to the ground unconscious Egor and Viktor took turns kicking her in the face
hoping to dislodge what they thought were gold crowns on her teeth Lydia's dog started barking loudly
spooking the pair they shot the dogs with rubber bullets killing two and injuring the other the commotion caused
by the dogs forced the pair to run away before they killed Lydia she suffered serious internal and external injuries
her jaw was shattered and her face had to be rebuilt knowing that the killers had robbed their victims police
distributed sketches of the wanted men under lists of stolen property to local pawn shops the official story of what
exactly led to the events of July 23 2007 varies what is known is that two young men visited at any proper troughs
pawn shop to try and sell a mobile phone they were offered approximately $20 us for the item if it was in working
condition to test the device the shop clerk pressed the power button sure enough the screen flickered to life
as soon as the mobile phone was turned on they released a signal that was immediately intercepted by police the
phone belonged to one of the victims police stormed the pawnshop and confronted the killers Victor sayenko
in degausser pro-nuke police conducted searches of their homes as well as that of their old but since
distant friend Alexander honza when police descended on Victor's apartment they were refused entry for around 40
minutes before Victor's father finally let them in police retrieved items from the wardrobes of the suspects according
to the investigator who backed the clothes there was not a single item from Igor and Victor's belongings that were
without bloodstains there jeans sneakers and jackets were all soiled in varying intensity of red and brown among the
evidence collected was a bloody earring belonging to one of their victims computer storage devices as well as the
murder weapon a yellow handled hammer igor also had a copy of Adolphe Hitler's Mein Kampf and had collected newspaper
articles relating to crimes he had committed the plumbing within Alexander hands as property was dismantled a
plumber extracted watches and three mobile phones which belonged to three of the murder victims once under arrest all
three suspects were quick to crumble and confess to their crimes later there were
questions raised about the methods used by Ukrainian police to extract to those confessions video released to the press
showed alexander the only one without influential parents obviously severely beaten there were no marks on either
Igor or Victor in Victor's videotaped confession he first said he acted alone but soon admitted that he was in the
company of Eagle when the detective asked him how many they had killed Victor responded quote I don't know I
don't remember how many maybe 19 the detective asked the question everyone wanted the answer to
why Victor seemed unable to answer and first he claimed that he didn't know why eventually he admitted that he killed
for money he then volunteered his partners motive quote Igor Igor just liked to kill when a detective asked
Igor in his interview what he felt when he killed the teenager replied quote what do you feel when you cut a sausage
by the end of the day Igor and Victor had confessed to killing at least two 19 people in the previous four weeks by the
time formal charges were laid igor victor and alexander were charged with involvement in 29 separate incidents
including 21 murders and eight more attacks where victim survived igor was charged with 27 of the cases including
21 counts of capital murder eight armed robberies and one count of animal cruelty victor was charged with 25
instances including 18 murders 5 robberies and one count of animal cruelty alexander was charged with two
counts of armed robbery from March 2007 after which he claimed to have withdrawn
from the activities of his friends and did not participate in the murders once the arrests were made the Ukrainian
people were outraged as they heard the litany of crimes about which they had been for the most part kept in the dark
despite the spate of brutal murders all carried out in the same manner the city of denne proper troughs didn't warn its
citizens nor did they put a curfew into effect although some individual crimes made the local papers there had been no
major news stories of people being randomly attacked murdered and mutilated by serial killers had they been told
people would have taken more precautions if there had been news stories up the young vadym and other witnesses had come
forward everyone would have been wary of two young men stopped on the side of a lonely road or otherwise behaving
suspiciously law enforcement and media alike tried to establish a motive for the
killings robbery didn't provide an adequate explanation many of their victims had nothing worth stealing
there were vagrants young boys going fishing travellers needing a taxi not people who would typically be expected
to be carrying valuables rumors circulated the police had not caught all of the perpetrators in particular there
was the matter of Daniel Kozlov a close friend of Viktor sayenko since kindergarten he was known to regularly
hang out with Egor and Viktor neighbors recalled many times spotting the green day we were pulling up outside Kozlov
his house that would honk for him and Kozlov would emerge from the house and climbing to the vehicle before it headed
off Kozlov was arrested some reports say for the murders others for hooliganism he too was the son of a powerful and
well-connected father with ties to officials surprisingly he admitted to having knowledge of the crimes having
seen video and pictures taken by the killers and hearing them brag about robbing and killing the killers urged
Kozlov to join them saying there was the prospect of making a lot of money they showed him their expensive computer
equipment which they claimed was rewards of their crimes people thought that it was quite likely that Kozlov was
involved in at least one murder but the combination of his willingness to talk and his rich and well-connected family
meant that he was never charged and he soon disappeared from sight the parents of the three accused rallied around them
Alexander's mother had no influence or contacts Betty Gore and Victor's parents through all of their resources and
connections into setting their son's free they maintained firmly that their sons were innocent of all crimes and
were four guys for the true criminals whose power and wealth provided them with immunity their public support was
met with considerable skepticism Alexander's mother told reporters that there had been a mistake in arresting
her son ironically she said quote he's a kind boy he couldn't hurt a cat let alone a person Victor's father told
the press I don't know why my son is admitting to these charges he's an ordinary boy I think that he must have
been intimidated by someone these charges have been fabricated Igor in particular was confident that his
parents would fix the situation just as they had bowed him out of every bit of trouble he had never been in throughout
his lifetime when his lawyer asked if he had any messages for his parents he responded that he missed his mother and
that he would be back home soon journalists worried that he was right knowing that his father had been the
personal pilot to the country's former president they wondered if he would call upon the politician to help his son it
is feasible that under normal circumstances in 2007 Ukraine Eagles confidence of his father getting him out
would not be misplaced however there was something different in this case making
releasing Igor and Viktor politically impossible among the items recovered by police in their raids on the boys homes
were hundreds of photographs and videos of the two young killers carrying out their crimes and posing with their
victims there was everything from an extended video of the torture of a kitten to selfies taken at their victims
funerals from photographs of them with tortured dogs and cuts and more posing with the bloodied bodies of their human
victims across one photograph someone had scrawled the weak must thought the strongest will win
there were also at least five videos documenting some of the murders a 30 minute film showed the young Psychopaths
preparing waiting for and then murdering Sergey yatsenko the footage is dated July 12 2007 Igor and Viktor stand on
the side of the road Victor's mobile phone is balanced on the roof of their car recording video the
woodland road was quiet as the pair discussed their plan to wave down a passing car and killed the occupant
provided it wasn't a big car Igor said to Viktor we can stop a car just like that and if it is a big guy we tell him
there's no problem and to let him go and if a little one comes out we say welcome with this he then pulled a
yellow handled hammer out of a yellow plastic bag and dabrander stood at the camera as both he and Viktor laughed in
excitement igor hid the hammer behind his back then joked i will pull it out like this whilst demonstrating a
swinging motion they had binoculars so they could see well into the distance and figure out
whether the person coming was a suitable victim they hoped that whoever it was had a cell phone
nice but not too nice as they wanted to be able to sell it quickly if it were a man and a woman they would go ahead and
kill them both provided the man was not too big as they waited they checked the Daewoo over noting that there were
bloodstains in various spots they debated about which stains came from which of their previous victims
finally Viktor raised the binoculars and saw someone coming down the quiet stretch of road he called the Igor that
it was torn he cried out in excitement what video will capture not just pictures igor asked what does he look
like viktor replied he looks normal once Victor had identified the approaching target a man
on a bike Igor stood in the middle of the road Victor grabbed hold of the camera and
held it up at Igor when Sergey yatsenko reached the boys Igor swung around with a hammer Sergey was hit and fell off his
bike still laughing the boys dragged Sergey from the road and into the framing woodland for eight long minutes
Sergei yatsenko endured unimaginable suffering the two killers caught everything on camera giggling the entire
time when Sergei died Igor gave him one last torn what a [ __ ] day for you huh Igor took his time wiping the hammer
clean and putting it in the trunk of the car then carefully washed his face and hair asking his friend to check the
spots where he had missed the blood running his fingers through his wet hair Igor said this time was the awesome
Victor was keen to flee the scene of the crime but Igor insisted the pair should
go back and get a selfie once he finished washing they returned to the bloodied remains of Sergei in a final
act of indignity to the proud family man Igor and Victor stood over him and photographed themselves performing the
Nazi salute Victor seongho's father insisted that the photographs and footage of his son and friend killing
Sergei and others were faked he told reporters that when police raided his house they found a perfectly innocent
pictures and videos of Victor with his friend Igor in the woods and that someone who wanted to frame them made up
photos and videos using special effects experts agreed that faking all footage found would require a Hollywood level
special effects team and a year of editing somehow eight minutes of footage showing
the final brutal moments of Sergey yet cinco's life made its way from the evidence room to the Internet for those
who could stomach watching it there was no doubt that the giggling psychopath featured in the video was Igor Supra
nuke and his friend Victor sayenko was behind the camera with the release of the video online
another Theory began to circulate local media reported the killers had a plan to
get rich by selling their murder videos to an underground snuff ring snuff is a genre film depicting the very real
killing of a human being the girlfriend of one of the boys reported that they planned to make 40 separate videos of
murders this was corroborated by a former classmate who claimed he heard Eagle was in contact with a rich foreign
website operator who ordered 40 snuff videos and would pay lots of money once they were made journalists tried to
verify the existence of this snuff network one news crew claimed to find a site with the help of a Russian hacker
that contained hundreds of murder videos many of them made in Ukraine but their efforts led nowhere
the story was likely a fairness T woven around to the video of Sergey x' murder which had reached a viral proportions on
shock and gore websites it should be noted that someone with access to court records leaked the footage not the
killers themselves surely after their arrest the three suspects received psychiatric
evaluations all were deemed sane and fit to stand trial nevertheless Igor's lawyer tried to
mount an insanity defense and insisted that his client should be treated not punished
Igor's paternal grandmother had schizophrenia and his lawyer argued that igor inherited the condition igor
pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity his lawyer disputed the psychiatric evaluation that declared Igor was sane
saying that the notoriety of the crimes meant the defendants could get fair treatment and the results were
rushed and biased the trial of Igor soprano pictus anko and alexander honza began in June 2008 it was delayed after
the first day when Eagles lawyer quit citing his own health problems then in another twist
Victor's parents fired his lawyer and his own father took on the defense Victor's lawyer was happy to be
dismissed saying that his clients story had changed and he felt he could no longer provide him an adequate defense
Victor under the guidance of his father recanted the confession he had made in the police station saying it had been
forced out of him through the use of violence and coercion the case was adjourned until the new defence teams
could get acquainted with the case file there were whispers the Victor's father explored other methods of freeing his
son including pressuring at least one of the surviving victims not to testify the
trial recommenced in early july the three accused had to be transported to and from the courtroom wearing body
armor as there was a very real fear that would be attacked by victims families or
the general public inside a court they were put into a cage from where they observed the proceedings behind bars
Igor and Victor were allowed access to their parents who formed part of their defense teams but Alexander's mother was
denied any contact with her son ten lawyers represented 29 family members of victims eligible for compensation from
the crimes the prosecution's evidence included eyewitness testimony the many items belonging to the victims recovered
from the homes of the defendants and DNA evidence that confirmed with over 99% accuracy the involvement of the accused
in the murders but the most compelling evidence was the photographs and videos produced by the suspects themselves the
court had a psychologist on standby when these exhibits were presented and the counselor was put to good use
several people ran from the court distraught after observing the disturbing con and the killers gazed calmly from behind
the bars to the TV screen occasionally they exchanged glances and smirks when it came time for them to be questioned
about the videos they denied they were involved in an outrageous claim they said they didn't recognize anyone in the
footage despite the many shots in which they appeared close up to the camera the
judge didn't appreciate the court being played for a fool and responded you are not blind the defense team for Egor and
Viktor tried every tactic from having the photos and videos thrown out of evidence due to them being obtained by
an improper search - presenting a conspiracy cover-up that protected the real culprits who they said were rich
and famous they also argued that the confessions had been obtained through torture although only Alexander had
shown any signs of being beaten when it came their turn to testify the killers turned on each other
according to Victor's father Viktor was himself a victim terrified of the psychotic igor who had forced him into
participating in the slaughter he claimed a sort of Stockholm Syndrome and an ever-growing psychological
dependence on Igor arising from the fear the enigmatic younger boy had instilled
in him Victor claimed Igor had made both direct and implied threats of violence and that
he had convinced him that he could ensure all of the blame fell upon Victor should they ever be caught Alexander's
defense was that he was only involved in a single robbery prior to the murderous
spree he pled guilty to the robbery and claimed he had no idea what Igor and Victor were capable of and if he had
known he would not have gone near them even at gunpoint as for the property belonging to the victims that was found
at Alexander's house it was accepted that Igor and Victor gifted him these items and that he wasn't actually
present at the murders egle meanwhile was generally solid throughout the trial although he seemed
to enjoy the replaying of his exploits on video his mother formed part of the defense
team and families of the victims would later say they felt intimidated by her cold unwavering stare and complete lack
of sympathy the one thing the prosecution still could not answer was the question of
motive the lack of motive coupled with the extreme cruelty made this case unique they accepted the
profit from robbery was not the main purpose since most of their victims had little to steal the rumors of creation
of videos for sale to the snuff market were not address that the trial at all eventually the prosecution settled on
the unthinkable Igor and Viktor tortured and killed people simply for the thrill
and filmed their exploits to have momento is to look back on and enjoy in their old age on February 11 2009 the
court found Igor Soprano can Victor sayenko guilty of all charges Igor was found guilty of 21 murders and
victor was found guilty of 18 they both received two life sentences which they immediately appealed though which were
upheld later that year by the Supreme Court Alexander honza was found guilty of robbery and sentenced to nine years in
prison he did not appeal nobody could believe that the parents of the convicted had truly been blissfully
unaware of what Igor and Viktor were getting up to they were accused of turning a blind eye to their misdeeds
and blood-stained clothes and to they're suspicious collection of electronics and
jewelry when Yelena Schramm's mother accosted igor's mother she reportedly looked her right in the eye and said
coldly maybe your daughter was just destined to die the mother of returned servicemen Igor Nashville odd said quote
no job can be an excuse for mental deafness to your child how could you not feel the changes in the moods of their
children not say the deformation of their interests not pay attention to the completely blood-stained clothes how did
you not look under the bed where the motor tools were stored and ignore other people's things suddenly appearing in
your house or the appearance of guns and bullets natalya l chenko lived so close
to the side of her daughter's murder that she had to pass by at almost every day each time she would say a prayer for
her daughter hey Katerina she later told reporters quote you can't even call them
animals because animals kill in self-defense by instinct or when they sense danger
they did it just for pleasure they killed people for fun [Music] you

Case 92: Dnepropetrovsk Maniacs

In December 2008, veteran journalist Caitlin Moran was surfing the web when she came across a link on a chat board. The link was accompanied with the message: ‘See if you can keep your breakfast down after watching this! I couldn’t!’

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Episode researched and written by Eileen Ormsby, author of ‘The Darkest Web – Drugs, Death and Destroyed Lives: The inside story of the internet’s evil twin’ Production, scoring – Mike Migas Additional scoring – Andrew Joslyn

SOCIAL LINKS

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources please visit https://www.casefilepodcast.com/case-92-dnepropetrovsk-maniacs

Brief Summary

Igor Soprano and Victor Sayenko commit brutal murders in Dnieper, Ukraine, shocking the community and evading police for weeks.

Key points

Caitlin Moran's Disturbing Discovery. Veteran journalist Caitlin Moran stumbles upon a horrific video that haunts her forever.
Teenage Violence Escalates. Three boys descend into a world of robbery and murder, shocking their community.
The Brutal Murders Begin. A series of violent attacks leaves the community in shock as victims are found.
The Hunt for Killers Intensifies. Police ramp up efforts to find two young killers terrorizing the town.
Sergei's Tragic Fate. Sergei Yatsenko, a devoted family man, goes missing after a routine errand.
Brutal Murders Shock the Community. A series of gruesome murders leaves the town in fear and mourning.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I was becoming increasingly uneasy with the activities of my friends.

Alexander's discomfort with his friends' reckless behavior.

13:11WatchNov 20, 2018

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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