Mikhail Popkov

Mikhail Viktorovich Popkov, AKA The Werewolf of Siberia and The Angarsk Maniac, (born 7 March 1964) is a Russian serial killer and rapist. He has been convicted of 78 murders, although his self-professed victim count is 83.

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Popkov, a former police officer, would dress up in his old uniform and approach his victims, usually prostitutes, drunk women or other people Popkov considered immoral. He would offer them a free ride so they got in his car, where he would rape them before killing them. The murders were committed with instruments such as knives, axes, baseball bats and screwdrivers, leaving the bodies so badly mutilated that the killer was dubbed "the werewolf of Siberia" by the press. Popkov was motivated by his suspicion that his wife was cheating on him, which lead him to view all women as immoral.

Despite extensive inquiries and testimony from two women who survived Popkov's attacks, his identity remained a secret for two decades until 2012. In that year investigators discovered tracks from a Lada 4x4 at several of the crime scenes. As the Lada 4x4 is primarily used by police officers, a DNA search of all current and former officers in the region was carried out. Popkov's DNA was matched to the scene and he was arrested.

In January 2015 Popkov was sentenced to life imprisonment for 22 counts of murder. Two years later he confessed to 59 additional murders, bringing the total victim count to 81 and making Popkov the most prolific serial killer in Russian history, surpassing even Andrei Chikatilo and Alexander Pichushkin. Police were unable to obtain evidence for three of these killings but he was convicted on the other 56 and received a second life sentence. In 2020 he confessed to yet more killings, bringing the total victim count to 83.