Boris Gusakov

Boris Vasilevich Gusakov (Russian: Борис Васильевич Гусаков 1938 – 1970) was a Soviet serial killer, convicted for the killing of 5 people in the Moscow area between 1964 to 1968. Gusakov, a serial rapist with a history of mental health issues, committed at least 5 murders and 15 violent sexual assaults on girls and young women before being caught, and was executed by firing squad in 1970.

Background

Boris Vasilevich Gusakov was born in 1938, in the Saltykovka district of Balashikha, Moscow Oblast, Soviet Union. Gusakov was born into a family of alcoholics, and suffered from mental health issues from an early age, but these were often ignored due to the ongoing World War II. In 1955 he graduated from the school, but did not enter higher education, instead began working as a photographer. Gusakov married in 1958, and a daughter was born in 1968. From 1958 to 1961, Gusakov served in the Soviet Army, and shortly after his discharge from the army he was convicted for theft. From May 1962 to July 1965 he worked as a photographer at the factory "Kartolitografii" GAPU, where he was viewed positively by his colleagues. From August 1965 to July 1966 he worked at a laboratory for the film and photo department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. From January 1967 to January 1968 he worked as a photographic engineer at an oncology and chemical research facility, but was fired for violating labor discipline. Gusakov began working odd-jobs in Moscow until May 1968 when he began work in the darkroom for the Moscow Police.

Murders

In December 1963 Gusakov made the first attack on the girl, attempting several more attacks until June 21, 1964, when he committed his first murder. The victim was 11-year-old schoolgirl, who Gusakov attacked, raped and killed. On September 4, 1965, Gusakov killed his second victim, again raping and murdering a young woman. By 1968, the murder cases from 1964 and 1965 years were secret and considered closed by police. On March 11, 1968, Gusakov raped and killed two female students at the Moscow Power Engineering Institute, where suspicion fell on numerous men at the university. In April, Gusakov attacked a 9-year-old girl, and also a young couple, where he hit the man with a blunt object before killing the woman. The surviving man was able to describe the assailant to the police.

Arrest and conviction

On 16 May 1968, Gusakov met two tenth-grade girls in Serpukhov, Moscow Oblast, who he invited to go with him to the countryside. At first he tried to poison then kill them with a cleaver, but when Gusakov tried to attack the girls they escaped, where they alerted a nearby policeman who detained Gusakov.

In 1969, a court found Gusakov guilty of 5 murders and he was sentenced to death. Despite several requests for clemency which were all rejected, in 1970 Gusakov was executed by firing squad in Moscow.

References

• Robert Kalman, Born to Kill in the USSR, FriesenPress, 2014, ISBN 9781460227305; Chapter 'Student hunter', pp. 53–59