Mikhail Popkov was born in Russia on seventh of March in the year 1964. He grew up and schooled in Russia. Later on, he was employed to serve as a police officer for a while before leaving and deciding to work as a security guard. Popkov got married to Elena Popkova during his early years of youthfulness and together with his wife he bore a daughter, Ekaterina. His wife Elena also happened to have been a police officer. Reportedly, Mikhail Popkov was born to as mother who was addicted to alcoholism due to issues of family instability. Due to the alcoholism state of her mother, Popkov experienced many upbringing challenges. Notably, his alcoholic mother abused him repeatedly during his childhood days. It is believed that the kind of abuses and harsh experiences Popkov experienced during his childhood from his mother and others played a substantial role in affecting the kind of life he led during his later years. Moreover, most of the victims that he would decide to target in his later acts were reported to be resembling his alcoholic mother (Stewart, 2015)
when Mikhail Popkov started to engage in his acts murder, members of his family and home area were shocked upon their discovery of the truth about him and his acts. Due to such acts, most people within his local area turned against his family and isolated them as a way of expressing their displeasure. Such inhuman acts also led to him being nicknamed as 'The Werewolf'. On the twenty-third day of June the year 2013, Popkovwas arrested after he had gone to Vladivostok to purchase a car. After questioning, he confessed that he claimed that he was no longer committing such acts of murder and had stopped after he contracted a sexually transmitted infection, which made him impotent thus taking away his urge to rape and kill. Upon his arrest and prosecution, a court was able to recognize the evidence gathered against Popkov through the Russian Directorate of Investigation situated in Novosibirsk City. The court found that the evidence overwhelming and decided to issue a sentence to Popkov in relation to a series of murders that he committed against women between the years 1994 and 2004 around the town of Angarsk and within the region of Irkutsk (Liesowska, 2015).
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The court found that Mikhail Popkov in his middle age years was actively involved with the disappearance of women between the years 1994 and 2004 from certain places in the public during nights and evenings. The court also found that Popkov was considerable linked to violent deaths and bodies that were discovered in various parts of Usolsk and Angarsk within Irkutsk Region. In June of the year 2012, investigators performed DNA examinations and analysis and found that Mikhail Popkov who had served in his early life as a police operative in Angarsk, was positively linked to the murders that were being investigated. Initially, he pleaded guilty to the charges that were preferred against him but indicated that he was only responsible for three charges of murder. However, the investigators were able to prove beyond doubt that Popkovwas indeed connected with the disappearance and subsequent murder of twenty-two women. During the same year, Popkov remained under investigation where he was subjected to more than three hundred different forensic examinations involving about two thousand DNA examinations and analysis. In addition, the investigators managed to interrogate more than two thousand people who represented the victims as well as witnesses (Stewart, 2015).
Later on, the court decided to sentence Popkov to a life jail term that he was expected to serve under the surveillance of a special and strict security. In 2015, shocked many people when she confessed that she still loved her husband because she strongly believed that he did not commit any of the murder accusations that were leveled against him. Popkov’s wife, to whom he had been married for about twenty-eight years by the time of his arrest and conviction, indicated that he had no grounds to suspect that her husband was involved in any wrongdoing and would still live together with him if he was to be set free. His wife requested for his release indicating that she felt safe with him thus he was wrongly accused and he remains to be innocent. Despite the confessions made by Popkova suggesting that he was guilty, his wife Elena maintained that he was not guilty because he denied everything when he got an opportunity to talk to her before his sentencing to life imprisonment term. When Popkov’s daughter learned of the accusations against her father, she sought for his comment and explanation. In his response to his daughter, Popkov denied all the accusations against him and defended himself by indicating that the accusations were merely fairy tales and allegations that had nothing to do with his involvement (Liesowska, 2015).
He also informed his daughter the tribulations that he was undergoing in connection to his wrong accusations were emanating from ineffective police system where he had previously worked. As one of his close his closest family members, Popkov’s daughter with whom he had a life and raised for twenty-five years before his arrest also came to his defense. She claimed Popkov was a good and loving father to her and that she had been with him long enough to discover if there was anything about him that would be associated with being a murder. She indicated that her father, Popkov did not look like a maniac and did not fit to be classified as a murderer. She had also offered to give her input in trying to demonstrate the innocence of her father. In all his accusations, Popkov managed to receive defense from most of his family members including his own mother, Antonina who totally disagreed with the claims and accusations that her son was a murderer. Contrary to his accusers, Popkov’s mother described him as a person who loved his family members and other people and if indeed he was a murderer, his wife, daughter or any other closely related person or friend would have noticed that. She maintained that her son was someone who respected people and valued human life and there is no way he would have taken part in murdering the people he was being accused of murdering (Stewart, 2015).
Mikhail Popkov had a troubled childhood and this perhaps culminated in his psychopathic tendencies and ultimately his killing spree. Popkov, labeled as the “Werewolf murderer”, describes himself as having led a double life. On one hand, Popkov was described as a really dedicated family man who cared for both his daughter and wife, on the other he was a vicious murderer who preyed on lose women as he puts it. Popkov claims that he married Elena out of love; he suggests that he fell in love at first sight when he saw her by a pool (Coleman, 2017). It followed that their shared romantic interest culminated into marriage and even a daughter. However, this all came crashing down when Elena was infidel with his colleague. Afterwards, Popkov became more controlling, obsessive and observant; traits which aided his development from a family man to a full-blown serial killer (Siberian Times, 2017).
While it is not clear who Popkov’s first victim was, it is assumed that his first murder was only a few months later after the infidelity. Nonetheless, his preferred victims and tactics shared more similarities than differences. Starting from 1991 up to 2010, Popkov preyed on mostly drunk women walking alone at night in the Irkutsk region, Angarsk, Usolky and Usolye districts (Lisin, 2017). Popkov states that after his wife cheated on him he had a yearning to punish women who were not afraid of him and the lurking dangers in general. Hence, Popkov often trailed women, who he found drunk and careless, without accompanying men, thereafter, he would lure them into his car where he raped and more frequently than not killed them. It is important to note that he never killed all of his victims.
Popkov was detained for the murder of 22 victims, however, he confessed to an additional 59 murders. Moreover, most of the information regarding these atrocities is concealed by the police in a bid to maintain a proper court trial. As such it is both intricate and exasperating to detail all of his killings thereby only a few memorable ones will be mentioned. Popkov mentions that once his daughter asked him for money to help in the funeral of her music teacher. He gave her daughter the money only to later learn that he was responsible for the death of her music teacher. According to Coleman, his daughter told him that her music teacher was found dead along with the corpse of another woman in a nearby forest (2017). Earlier on, Popkov had bought two women drinks, invited them into his car and drove them out of town. He confessed that he killed one and then the other who had tried to escape afterward. Popkov was a fit man as he was fond of jogging and thereby it was nearly impossible for a drunken woman to escape his grasp.
On another particular occasion, he claims to have lost a chain which he was granted as a token for being an MVD worker. The Siberian Times suggest that by then Popkov was experienced in killing and he rarely made mistakes, however, were the token to be found he would have been immediately detained as it was a very unique object that was associated with him (2017). He recalls that on one particular day after returning home he was worried to realize the chain was not on his neck. Without much thought, he went back to the crime scene hoping that the police and investigators had not reached first. After finding his token he was surprised to find one of his two victims was still alive. This instance represented the murder of two women, Marina Lyzhina and Lilia Pashkovskaya, who were 35 and 37 year old respectively. According to Popkov, this was his last murder as the process became too stressful; however, there are claims that his contraction of syphilis was pivotal in him stopping the killings as he became sexually inept (Siberian Times, 2017).
In general, Popkov murdered a lot of women in the most brute ways unimaginable. However, it is prudent to question the police’s inadequacies that enable his serial killings that spanned almost two decades. Moreover, following his last murder in 2010 Popkov was captured in 2012 it is important to evaluate the reasons behind this dormancy. It has been noted that Popkov was a policeman for majority of his career and even when he stopped being one he still used his uniform to lure women. Popkov was often involved in all the cases where he was the perpetrator in his line of work. He often worked hand in hand with the investigators who were supposed to catch him. This aided him in two big ways, for one he was shielded as a suspect, in a particular instance, after being identified by one surviving victim he was let go after an alibi given by his wife (Coleman, 2017). Moreover, Popkov learned what the investigators were looking for thereby used it against them; in succinct terms, the investigators themselves gave Popokov a guide to carry out his killings albeit unconsciously.
In the 90s there was no conclusive genetic way to link a criminal to a crime in Russia. This was a huge reason why most serial killers were never caught unless they either confessed or were caught in action. Popkov despite being “retired” for 2 years was finally captured thanks to DNA analysis. In 2003 a genotype for the serial killer was determined; nonetheless, it was only after 2008 following analysis by a UK based forensic department was the case actively enacted again (Siberian Times, 2017). Thereafter, the police started compiling and assessing the genetics of suspects to finally catch the werewolf killer. In 2012, Popkov was finally called in for analysis by virtue of being very closely linked with the murders (Lisin, 2017). He quit his work and fled for Vladivostok, however, he was quickly after the DNA results matched him with the crimes.
Serial killers often have astonishing reasons for why they orchestrated their numerous murders and Popkov is no different. Despite being fueled by his wife’s infidelity it is surprising how a person who used to be an epitome of a family man turned into a vicious and predatory killer. More importantly, however, it is imperative to assess and comprehend the incompetence of law enforcement that allowed him to escape judgment for almost two decades. Had serious measures being taken after Popkov was profiled early on it is safe to assume that he would not have been able to continue his killing spree. As such it is essential that law enforcement should not know any barriers when it comes to profiling suspects.
References
Coleman, F. (2017). Serial Killing Cop: The True Story of Mikhail Popkov. Lavergne, TN: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
Liesowska, A. (2015, April 8). Meet the wife and daughter standing by mass murderer who raped and killed 22 women. The Siberian Times . Retrieved from
http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/features/f0087-meet-the-wife-and-daughter-standing-by-mass-murderer-who-raped-and-killed-22-women/
Lisin, J. (2017). ‘Maniac Mikhail Popkov: "I learned about what killed a music teacher, from my daughter and gave her money for a funeral"’. Retrieved from https://www.irk.kp.ru/daily/26658.5/3679470/
Stewart, W. (2015, April 9). Mikhail Popkov: The 'Werewolf' serial killer. Mirror News . Retrieved from http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/mikhail-popkov-i-still-love-5485941
Siberian Times. (2017). 'Werewolf' is worst-ever serial killer in former USSR as he is charged with killing 47 more women . Retrieved from http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/n0844-werewolf-is-worst-ever-serial-killer-in-former-ussr-as-he-is-charged-with-killing-47-more-women/
