A Russian plumber dubbed the ‘Granny Strangler’ has been charged with the murder of 32 elderly women in a two-year killing spree.
Radik Tagirov, 39, terrorised victims in a wide area east of Moscow, according to law enforcement.
Eleven of the alleged murders took place in oil-rich city Kazan.
The ‘serial killer’, a father-of-two also nicknamed the ‘Volga Maniac’, posed as a social services worker or a residential maintenance official, it is alleged.
Elderly women, mostly aged 75 to 91, opened their doors to him and once inside, he attacked and strangled them with either his hands or aprons, laundry ropes or iron cords, before stealing money.
Radik Tagirov (pictured) – dubbed the ‘Granny Strangler’ – has been charged with the murder of 32 elderly women in a two-year killing spree between 2011 and 2013
The ‘serial killer’ (pictured during interrogation), a father-of-two also nicknamed the ‘Volga Maniac’, ‘admitted’ his guilt and was ‘crying’ after his arrest, a law enforcement source said
He told his interrogator: ‘I choked them, with my hands from the back. I held on until the victim fell asleep, until she fell.’
The 32 killings all took place between 2011 and 2013, and investigations are continuing into other possible cases.
The perpetrator evaded police for years and the suspect was detained after more than 10,000 comparative genetic studies which uncovered matching genotypes in criminal databases.
‘He admitted his guilt, he was crying,’ said a law enforcement source.
He told investigators he ‘cannot remember’ how many female pensioners he killed, but law enforcement say they have forensic or other compelling evidence linking him to all 32 cases.
‘I didn’t count,’ he said.
Earlier reports said some victims had been raped and robbed. Currently, Tagirov is charged with 32 murders but not other crimes.
Tagirov, 39, terrorised victims in an area east of Moscow, law enforcement said. Eleven of the alleged murders took place in oil-rich city Kazan. He was caught by CCTV (pictured)
Tagirov (pictured) posed as a social services worker or a residential maintenance official and elderly women, mostly aged 75 to 91, opened their doors to him, it is alleged
The perpetrator evaded police for years and the suspect was detained after more than 10,000 comparative genetic studies. Pictured: ‘Volga maniac’ identikit
‘Analysis of biological objects found at crime scenes… determined that all the wrongful acts were committed by one individual,’ said Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko.
Russian Interior Ministry spokeswoman Colonel Irina Volk said police and FSB officers were also involved in the hunt.
‘Introducing himself as a utility worker or a social worker, he freely entered their apartments,’ she said.
‘Having killed his victim, he stole the retired women’s savings and got away.’
Kazan resident Tagirov began his killing spree after release from a jail sentence for theft in 2010, she said.
His first victim was named as Nasima Ishmuratova, 91.
The maniac was described as having ‘good communication skills, and easily wins the confidence of older people’.
As well as Kazan, capital of Tatarstan, the killings were in Bashkortostan, Chuvashia, Udmurtia, Mari El, Perm, Samara, Saratov, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Ivanovo, Kirov and in Moscow.