A 38-year-old Russian man has confessed to being the “Volga maniac” — a serial killer responsible for the strangling deaths of at least 26 elderly women in the country’s central region.
Radik Tagirov, who was linked to the murders through DNA and other forensic evidence, is accused of the string of killings that terrorized Russia between 2011 and 2012, the Guardian reported Tuesday.
“Based on the results of forensic research and biological analysis … it was established that all of the acts were committed by one person,” Russian police said in a statement.
They said more than 10,000 genetic tests had been carried out and that “the genotype and footprints of the attacker” and “the pattern of his actions” matched those of Tagirov.
Police said Tagirov talked his way into the women’s homes by claiming to be a utility worker, then would overpower his victims and strangle them with his hands or, in some cases, an apron or clothesline, the outlet said.
The majority of the women were older than 70.
But the accused killer evaded investigators for years by wearing gloves and meticulously sterilizing the crime scene after the crimes.
He struck throughout cities including Kazan, Samara, Tolyatti, Izhevsk and Ufa, until suddenly going quiet in 2013, the Guardian said.
In 2017, a new rash of killings sparked fear that he had returned, and authorities offered a $65,000 reward for his arrest last year, the Toronto Sun said.
The Sun said the killer was responsible for more than 30 murders.
Details of Tagirov’s arrest were not immediately available.
With Post wires