Yuri Ivanov (serial killer)

Yuri Anufrievich Ivanov (Russian: Ю́рий Ану́фриевич Ивано́в; 1956 – 1989), known as The Ust-Kamenogorsk Maniac, was a Soviet rapist and serial killer. In the span of 13 years (with a break), he raped and killed 16 girls and women. He committed his crimes in Ust-Kamenogorsk, in the area of the "Combine of silk fabrics" factory.^[1]

Biography[]

Ivanov worked as driver. He was married, and his own daughter was married as well. Once, he returned home from work and found his wife in bed with a lover. After this he developed a hatred for certain women, vowing to kill those who cheated on their husbands. During the investigation, Ivanov said that he talked with a lot of women learning about their opinions towards men. If the woman spoke ill of her husband or men as a whole, he would kill her. He would then rape and subsequently choke his victims to death. After the murder, as a rule, he would take some of deceased's personal belongings.

He was eventually sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for attempted rape. In the colony Ivanov worked as a driver, and with the opportunity to travel beyond the colony, he committed several crimes while still serving time.

From 1977 to 1987, Ivanov did not kill, as his personal life was again adjusted. But after he broke up with his partner in 1986, he returned to his criminal way of life. In 1987, he killed a 16-year-old girl. At the crime scene, an aluminium button and a hair sample were found that did not belong to the victim. An ambush was set up at the murder scene, and on the next day, when the maniac came back, he was arrested. Under the pressure of evidence (two of his cohabitants, to whom he had given items from the victims, gave the police a purse with his fingerprint, and his jacket lacked an aluminum button), Ivanov confessed to the rape/murders of 16 women and girls and 14 separate rapes. Ivanov perfectly remembered all the events of many years give or take the slightest detail, directing police to all the crime scenes almost without error. He said that he remembered the faces of his victims, and to prove this, the investigators devised a unique experiment - "identification of the contrary": they showed him photos of different women, so he would determine which of them he had raped or killed. Ivanov pointed at his victims without any mistake. For the murder of one of these women, committed in 1974, the victim's husband was convicted. By that time he had served most of the term - 7 out of 12 years. The verdict against him was later abolished, and the murder correctly imputed to Ivanov.

Ivanov himself asked for the death penalty, and in 1989, he was sentenced to death. Before the execution he asked to arrange a meeting with his daughter, but she refused. Later in 1989, Ivanov was executed by firing squad.^[2]

In the media[]

• Documentary film "The Involuntary Murderer" from the series "Legends of the Soviet Investigation".

See also[]

• List of serial killers by country
• List of serial killers by number of victims

References[]

External links[]

• "Legends of the Soviet investigation" - "The Involuntary Murderer"