Dnepropetrovsk maniacs
| Dnepropetrovsk maniacs | |
|---|---|
Sayenko (left) and Suprunyuk with a dead animal
|
|
| Born |
Viktor Sayenko Alexander Hanzha Igor Suprunyuk 20 April 1988 (Suprunyuk) Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine |
| Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment for Suprunyuk and Sayenko; nine years' imprisonment for Hanzha |
| Conviction(s) |
Premeditated murder and animal cruelty (Sayenko and Suprunyuk) and Robbery (Hanzha, Sayenko and Suprunyuk) |
| Killings | |
| Victims | 21 |
|
Span of killings
|
25 June 2007–16 July 2007 |
| Country | Ukraine |
|
Date apprehended
|
23 July 2007 |
The Dnepropetrovsk maniacs (Ukrainian: Дніпропетровські маніяки, Russian: Днепропетровские маньяки) are Ukrainian serial killers responsible for a string of murders in Dnipropetrovsk in June and July 2007. The case gained additional notoriety because the killers made video recordings of some of the murders, with one of the videos leaking to the Internet. Two 19‑year-old locals, Viktor Sayenko (Ukrainian: Віктор Саєнко, Russian: Виктор Саенко) and Igor Suprunyuk (Ukrainian: Ігор Супрунюк, Russian: Игорь Супрунюк), were arrested and charged with 21 murders.
A third conspirator, Alexander Hanzha (Ukrainian: Олександр Ганжа, Russian: Александр Ганжа) was charged with two armed robberies that took place before the murder spree. On 11 February 2009, all three defendants were found guilty. Suprunyuk and Sayenko were sentenced to life imprisonment, while Hanzha received nine years in prison. The lawyers for Suprunyuk and Sayenko launched an appeal, which was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Ukraine in November 2009.
The first two murders occurred late on 25 June 2007. The first victim was a 33-year-old woman, Yekaterina Ilchenko, who was walking home after having tea at her friend's apartment. According to Sayenko's confession, he and Suprunyuk were "out for a walk." Suprunyuk had a hammer. As Ilchenko walked past, Suprunyuk "spun around" and struck her in the side of the head. Ilchenko's body was found by her mother at 5 AM. Within an hour of the first murder, the two men attacked their next victim, Roman Tatarevich, as he slept on a bench near the first murder scene. Tatarevich's head was smashed with blunt objects numerous times, rendering him unrecognizable. The bench was located across the street from the local public prosecutor's office.
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Wikipedia