The fascination of evil

Evil has always fascinated people. Whether it’s car accidents on the highway that you just can’t look away from, or serial killers like Ted Bundy, who still captivate many people around the world today. Sometimes so much so that they become copycat criminals. This was the case in 2011, when 19-year-old Artem Anufriyev and his 18-year-old friend Nikita Lytkin killed six people with a wooden hammer and a knife in the Ukrainian city of Akademgorodok for no reason, simply because they were fascinated by a series of murders that had taken place in the Ukrainian city of Dnipropetrovsk in 2007. At that time, 21 people were killed at random in the most gruesome manner within two months. The two perpetrators were only 19 years old. They were Viktor Sayenko and Igor Suprunyuck, who went down in criminal history as the “Dnipropetrovsk Maniacs,” the madmen of Dnipropetrovsk. They chose their victims at random, usually smashing their skulls beyond recognition with a hammer. They often tortured their victims, gouging out their eyes with a screwdriver or even cutting a baby out of a pregnant woman’s womb. They filmed their insane acts on their cell phones to revel in them at home. Their first victim was 33-year-old Ekaterina Ilchenho, who was on her way home after tea with her friend on June 25, 2007. After she had passed Viktor and Igor, Igor suddenly and completely unexpectedly struck Ekaterina on the skull with a hammer he had hidden under his shirt. The next morning at around 5 a.m., Ekaterina’s mother discovered her daughter’s body. Just one hour after Ekaterina’s murder, they smashed the skull of Roman Tatarevich, who had been sleeping on a bench. They were so brutal that identification initially seemed impossible. A few days later, on July 1, 2007, they smashed the skulls of Evgeniya Grischenko and Nikolai Sertschuk. Just five days later, they killed a total of three people in one day. First, they murdered Ihor Nechvolada, who had recently been discharged from the army, as he was on his way home from a nightclub. They literally beat Viktor to death before brutally killing the two women, Elena Shram and Valentina Ganscha. The very next day, they sought out two new victims. These were two 14-year-old boys, Andrej Sidyuk and Vadin Lyakhov, who wanted to go fishing. But Vadin managed to escape, while his friend Andrej was killed. Based on Vadin’s description, investigators created a composite sketch. Due to the large number of murders, a special commission consisting of 2,000 investigators was formed. The series of horrific crimes, which could hardly be surpassed in terms of brutality, had to be stopped as quickly as possible. On July 12, 48-year-old Sergei Yatzenko was killed by Igor and Viktor. This was followed by 12 more murders. Using the composite sketch and the fact that the victims’ cell phones and valuables had been stolen, investigators visited local pawn shops where the perpetrators might have sold the goods, and this approach proved to be a bull’s-eye. On July 23, 2007, Viktor, Igor, and another accomplice were arrested. The third accomplice was Oleksandr Ganscha, also 19 years old, who had committed several armed robberies with the other two. All three men made full confessions, but Igor later recanted. Viktor and Igor testified in court that they wanted to overcome their fears by committing the murders. Since eighth grade, they had made a pact to work together to combat their fears. Not only were they afraid of being beaten up by their classmates, but they also suffered from a panic fear of heights. They tried to combat this by sitting for hours on the railing of a balcony on the 14th floor. Since their accomplice Oleksandr suffered from a phobia of blood, they wanted to cure him by hanging stray dogs from a tree and then decapitating them. They also nailed cats to crosses, taped their mouths shut, and then shot them. Everything was recorded on a cell phone. After graduating from school, the trio infernale committed several robberies together. Igor earned very little as a taxi driver with an unlicensed taxi. Viktor, who worked in a metallurgical plant, was not much better off, and Oleksandr was simply unemployed. During the trial, Viktor’s father, who was a lawyer, defended him himself. He blamed Igor, who had manipulated his son. When this did not work, the strategy was changed to claim that it was a conspiracy in which the boys had been framed for the murders. Finally, on February 11, 2009, all three defendants were found guilty. Viktor and Igor received life sentences, which were upheld by the Supreme Court of Ukraine on November 24, 2009. Oleksandr received a 9-year prison sentence. Their copycat killers fared no better, also receiving long prison sentences for six murders and several robberies. Artem was sentenced to life imprisonment and his friend Niktia to 24 years in prison. Everyone gets what they deserve.