The Truly Horrific Crime Scene Of Serial Killer Alexander Spesivtsev

The following article includes graphic descriptions of sexual assault, murder, and cannibalism.

On October 26, 1996, a maintenance worker knocked on the door of a Novokuznetsk, Russia, apartment — which was occupied by 26-year-old Alexander "Sasha" Spesivtsev and his mother Lyudmila. As reported by The Scare Chamber, the maintenance worker needed to enter the apartment to fix a clogged drain pipe, which had caused problems in several other apartments in the building. However, Spesivtsev refused to let him in, as he claimed he was "mentally unwell" and his mother had locked him inside the apartment.

As the maintenance worker needed to get inside the apartment to fix the pipe, he contacted authorities for assistance. The Scare Chamber reports the officers forcibly entered the apartment. Once inside, they made a gruesome discovery — the walls of the apartment were covered in blood spatter. Although Spesivtsev was inside the apartment when they entered, he ran to the balcony, where he ultimately escaped.

Upon further inspection of the apartment, authorities discovered bowls in the kitchen, which contained what appeared to be human flesh (via The Scare Chamber). In the living room, Alexander Spesivtsev's dog was chewing on what they believed to be a human bone taken from a rib cage — which was on the floor near the dog. The officers found the torso of what they determined to be a young girl lying in the bathtub, and they later found the girl's head lodged inside Spesivtsev's hot water tank.

In one of the bedrooms, authorities found a 15-year-old girl. According to Evidence Locker, she was seriously injured and had obvious knife wounds. However, she was able to tell the authorities her name was Olya. She also told authorities Spesivtsev and his mother worked together to lure her and her two friends to the apartment, where they were physically and sexually abused and tortured. She also confirmed Spesivtsev ultimately killed both of her friends. 

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

The Scare Chamber reported that Olya and her two friends, 15-year-old Nastya and 13-year-old Zhenya, met Alexander Spesivtsev's mother, Lyudmila, outside her apartment complex. Olya said the woman, who she described as "elderly," asked them to help her carry her shopping bags upstairs to her apartment.

When the girls stepped inside the apartment, Spesivtsev immediately began attacking them. Nastya attempted to fight back, but Spesivtsev overpowered the teen and ultimately killed her in front of her friends. He then restrained the other two girls and proceeded to rape and torture them repeatedly over the next month.

Spesivtsev and his mother did not promptly dispose of Nastya's remains. Instead, they left the corpse in the apartment, and Spesivtsev used it to torture Zhenya and Olya further. Spesivtsev forced the teens to watch him dismember Nastya's corpse and participate in the mutilation and consumption of their friend's remains.

Zhenya was the second of the teens to die. However, Spesivtsev reportedly did not kill her himself. Instead, he ordered his dog to attack her. Zhenya was killed when the dog latched onto her neck and ultimately severed her trachea. Spesivtsev then forced Olya to help him dismember her friend's corpse and eat the soup he made with her remains.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

As reported by Evidence Locker, Olya was taken to the hospital for treatment. However, she ultimately died as a result of the wounds she sustained at the hands of her captors. Thankfully, law enforcement officials recorded her statement about the gruesome incident prior to her death.

The Scare Chamber reports other evidence collected from the scene included more than 80 sets of clothing stained with blood, 40 pieces of jewelry (believed to have belonged to Spesivtsev's victims), and numerous polaroid pictures. Authorities said the photos were clearly taken inside the apartment, and some of the victims pictured were nude and had been restrained. Some of the clothing and jewelry clearly belonged to children.

Authorities suspected Spesivtsev and his mother were the likely perpetrators in the murders of numerous children, teens, and women whose remains were found dumped in an empty lot and in and around the Aba River earlier that same year. At the time, authorities were able to identify some of the remains as belonging to children who had been reported missing. However, they were unable to identify a suspect — the serial killer was simply referred to as the "Novokuznetsk Monster."

During police questioning, Alexander Spesivtsev and his mother both confessed to involvement in the heinous crimes. However, as reported by The Scare Chamber, Lyudmila said she simply helped her son clean up and dispose of his victims' remains, as she feared for her own safety. Spesivtsev did not suggest his mother was involved in the actual killings, but he did say she willingly lured the children, teens, and women, to the apartment for him to kill.

Spesivtsev ultimately confessed to killing 19 people, with his youngest victim being only 3 years old, per Kommersant (via Google Translate). However, he later recanted the confession. Without it, authorities were limited in the number of charges they could file against Spesivtsev. As they only had enough evidence to conclusively link him to four murders, Spesivtsev was charged and convicted on four counts of homicide. He was subsequently sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Although he was determined to be fit to stand trial, another psychiatric evaluation, which was completed after his sentencing, determined he was mentally incompetent. Therefore, he was sentenced to remain in the Oryol psychiatric special hospital.

As reported by The Scare Chamber, authorities did not have enough evidence to charge Alexander Spesivtsev's mother, Lyudmila, with murder. However, she was charged as an accomplice. She was subsequently convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Lyudmila was released from prison in 2008 after serving 13 years of her sentence. According to reports, she was last known to be living outside the city of Osinniki with her daughter.

Spesivtsev was eventually transferred to Kamyshin Regional Hospital, a high-security psychiatric facility in Volgograd. The Scare Chamber reports he has been candid about the murders he committed and outspoken about his political beliefs. When interviewed about the murders of Nastya, Olya, and Zhenya, Spesivtsev said, "It's fun to have three girls at once. I often ran out of ideas, not knowing what I'd like. Then, the angrier I got, the nicer the girls were to me. ... Those who don't love me anymore and won't do as I say – has to die. They were a little shocked, why I do not know."

In his diaries, which authorities recovered from his apartment, Spesivtsev suggested he committed the murders in an effort to rid the streets of what he referred to as "debris." During a later interview, The Scare Chamber reports Spesivtsev said, "How many people have our democracy destroyed? If people thought about that, there wouldn't be any of this filth. But what can you do?"