Alexander Spesivtsev

Alexander Spesivtsev
Born	Alexander Nikolayevich Spesivtsev 1 March 1970 Kemerovo Oblast, RSFSR, Soviet Union
Other names	"Novokuznetsk monster", "Siberian ripper"
Criminal penalty	Involuntary commitment
Killings
Victims	19-82+
Span of killings	1991–1996
Country	Russia
Date apprehended	October 26, 1996

Alexander Nikolayevich Spesivtsev (Russian: Александр Николаевич Спесивцев, born 1 March 1970) is a Russian serial killer, also known as The Novokuznetsk Monster and The Siberian Ripper, convicted for the killing of 4 people in Novokuznetsk in 1996.

Spesivtsev, with the assistance of his mother Lyudmila, targeted street children and young women across Novokuznetsk by luring them into their apartment, where they would be tortured and killed, and sometimes cannibalized. Despite only being convicted for 4 murders, Spesivtsev confessed to 19 murders that he was accused of by police, and based on evidence is believed to have committed over 80 killings as early as 1991.

Early life

Alexander Nikolayevich Spesivtsev was born 1 March 1970, and raised in an apartment on Pionerskiy Prospekt in central Novokuznetsk, the largest city in Kemerovo Oblast, RSFSR, Soviet Union. He was underweight at birth but survived, although he was frequently ill afterwards. During childhood Spesivtsev was considered unsocial, did not have friends, and was bullied while at school. His mother, Lyudmila Spesivtseva, worked at a nearby school and was very affectionate towards her son. Spesivtsev and his mother held a strong but unusual relationship, as Lyudmila would regularly show her son photographs of corpses from books about criminal cases at a very young age, and the two shared a bed until Spesivtsev was 12. Growing up Spesivtsev showed increasing sadistic tendencies, and in 1988 at the age of 18 he was assigned to a mental hospital in Novokuznetsk for treatment.

Crimes

In 1996 Alexander and Lyudmila began to lure victims into their apartment, chosen at random, where Alexander would torture and eventually kill them. Spesivtsev had developed an intense hatred for street children, which had become commonplace in the impoverished city of Novokuznetsk since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and they became his main target. The bodies of victims would sometimes be cannibalized^[1] Lyudmila would dispose of unwanted remains by throwing them into the Aba River, late at night.^[2]

Arrest and sentencing

Alexander and Lyudmila were arrested on 26 October 1996.

Spesivtsev kept a diary detailing some of his crimes and did not deny his actions when captured.^[2] However, he confessed only to 19 murders and boasted with crimes, that couldn't be proven. During the search of his apartment 82 articles of bloody clothing, nearly 40 jewelry items and some photos of unknown people, who were possibly unproven victims, were found. He was ruled insane by a court and committed to a psychiatric hospital, and had previously been confined to a mental institution for 3 years after torturing and killing his girlfriend.^[2][1] The only living witness and Spesivtsev's last victim, 15-year-old Olga Galtseva, died the following day after being discovered.^[2]

References