Like a silent shadow, Russian serial killer Mikhail Popkov carved his signature murders in his city in Russia, and he killed 78 women until he got caught.
He had one of the best covers to hide his activities as a former police officer who would have been doubted as the serial killer of these women in the city of Angarsk in Siberia.
He is called the "Werewolf" when he engaged in a killing spree that began in 1992 with some of the most vicious murders that made him Russia's most prolific serial killer.
Now, he has been convicted of all the 78 murdered women, though there might be more murders that are his handiwork but are not recorded
Picasso/ Jack the Ripper maestro of killing
Popkvov raped all the 78 female victims and may have derived more by this signature move before killing the women by butchering them.
One exception is a male police officer who was killed as one of his victims.
None of his victims was spared a kind death, as mutilation was his signature and his victims were gruesome canvasses of his. Because of this, Popkov has become the most famous Russian serial killer.
His killings were caused by a suspicion that his wife was unfaithful to him, but he never questioned his wife Elena.
Later, he began choosing sex worker or drunk women who consented to have a drink with him not knowing that they would be sentenced to death if they drink with him.
According to the "Werewolf," they were immoral, and deserved it. Only three lucky women survived because they did not drink with him.
State prosecutor Alexander Shkinyov said on his second conviction that he escorted these "loose women" home, and even carried their bag.
When asked what Popkov felt as he butcher his victims, "He said that he felt satisfied when he felt their pain as they were stabbed," expressing no remorse but relished it with 78 kills.
One Russian Prosecutor who made a comment of another 56 dead to his credit, Popkov loved to kill and stabbed them 145 or 170 times.
The Werewolf killer trial
The killing rampage of Popkov began in 1992 with the last one in 2010. An extra conviction of 22 murders, sent him in for life in a Siberian penal colony.
His initial charge of 60 butchering women, was enough for 56 but pleads guilty. He even helped identifying his murder victims.
Although he is getting sentenced to Russia's toughest maximum-security jails, he did not even show any emotion, just cold stares.
But upon learning that he was going to lose his police rank, thus, losing his pension, this made Popkov mad.
Popkov's assumption that working with the investigation will keep his rank, but it did not keep him from losing it. He later appealed not to remove his pension.
His capture
He lead a double life as a father, husband, whose family never guessed that he was the "Werewolf."
Popkov added, "In one life I was an ordinary person, I was in the service in the police, having positive feedback on my work."
He went about killing for nearly two decades, and getting police supplies for his killing sprees.
Popkov finally got caught when the tracks of his 4x4 Lada was the giveaway, no cleaning of the murder scenes was enough. He finally got caught by a DNA test.
