A former Russian cop and notorious serial-killer known as “The Werewolf” recently told investigators that he had murdered more than twice as many women as previously thought — for a total of 59, according to published reports.
Mikhail Popkov is already serving a life sentence for 22 murders, The Siberian Times reported.
But he told authorities that he killed an additional two dozen women during his rampage that spanned from 1994 to 2000. Based on his recent admissions, police discovered the corpses of a “huge number” of victims and have now charged him with the 25 extra murders, the newspaper said.
Popkov also provided information on 12 more slayings and has put his total kill count at a whopping 59.
The tally puts Popkov up there with Russia’s two other most prolific serial killers: Andrei “Butcher of Rostov” Chikatilo, who slaughtered 53 people, and “Chessboard Killer” Alexander Pichushkin, who whacked 49.
During his savage 16-year spree, Popkov sexually assaulted his young female victims before killing them either with an ax, knives or screwdrivers.
Wearing his police uniform, Popkov would lure his drunken victims into his police car by offering them late night rides back home from bars.
He would then drive them to deserted areas and brutally attack them, dumping their naked corpses in the woods. DNA evidence was left at the crime scenes.
The crimes went unsolved for so many years because the police failed to conduct DNA tests on their own officers. When they finally tested the entire department, Popkov was revealed to be the killer.
After his arrest in June 2012, Popkov allegedly told police that he lost the will to kill after he had contracted syphilis from one of his victims, leaving him impotent. Cops say that he stopped killing in 2000 when he was stricken with the disease.
Police have theorized that the murders began after Popkov found two used condoms belonging to guests who had attended a gathering at his home, The Daily Mail said. Popkov wrongly accused his wife of cheating on him, causing him to seek revenge against women.