Anatoly Onoprienko's Chilling Motivation To Kill
"To me, killing people is like ripping up a duvet. Men, women, old people, children, they are all the same." It's hard to imagine more cold-blooded, remorseless words being uttered. However, for Anatoly Onoprienko, killing was merely a matter of routine. Nicknamed "The Beast of Ukraine," Onoprienko murdered 52 people over the course of seven years (per "Serial Killer of Russia") and is remembered as one of the most horrific, unimaginable serial killers in Ukrainian history and the spectrum of true crime as a whole. Also labeled "The Terminator" and "Citizen 0.," it wasn't until April 16, 1996, that his bloody and unrepentant conquest finally came to a halt (via Crime and Investigation).
It isn't unheard of for even the most horrendous killers to reflect upon their crimes with some sense of guilt and shame, but Anatoly Onoprienko admitted no such regret. In an interview delivered shortly after being apprehended, he stated (per "Serial Killers of Russia"), "If I am ever let out, I will start killing again. But this time it will be worse. 10 times worse. The urge is there."
Why he did it
Anatoly Onoprienko's methods, like most serial killers, were unimaginable and barbaric. Onoprienko's selection of victims had no real formula to it but was rather contingent upon homes he decided to rob and the occupants who happened to be inside at the time of entry. It was his custom to use a shotgun or other firearm and he would take the lives of entire families using such weapons, more often than not in the middle of the night. He was also convicted of numerous counts of rape (via Crime and Investigation).
The impulse behind crimes like these, experts agree, is embedded in the minds of such people in the form of a psychological flaw. However, the criminals themselves don't always see it that way. "I am being groomed to serve Satan," Onoprienko stated. "I have been taken over by a higher force, something telepathic or cosmic, which drove me" (per "Mass Killers"). He died in prison of heart failure on August 27, 2013 (via IMDb).