Dnepropetrovsk maniacs

The Dnepropetrovsk maniacs are Ukrainian serial killers responsible for a string of murders in Dnepropetrovsk in June and July 2007. The case gained worldwide notoriety after the killers made video recordings of some of the murders, with one of the videos leaking to the Internet. Two 19‑year-olds, Viktor Sayenko (born 1 March 1988), and Igor Suprunyuk (born 20 April 1988), were arrested and charged with 21 murders.

A third conspirator, Alexander Hanzha (born February 1988), was charged with two armed robberies that took place before the murder spree. On 11 February 2009, all three defendants were found guilty. Sayenko and Suprunyuk were sentenced to life imprisonment, while Hanzha received nine years in prison. The lawyers for Sayenko and Suprunyuk launched an appeal, which was dismissed by the Supreme Court of Ukraine in November 2009.

Murders

The first two murders occurred late on 25 June 2007. The first victim was a 33-year-old woman, Yekaterina Ilchenko, who was walking home after having tea at her friend's apartment. According to Sayenko's confession, he and Suprunyuk were "out for a walk". Suprunyuk had a hammer. As Ilchenko walked past, Suprunyuk "spun around" and hit her in the side of the head. Ilchenko's body was found by her mother at 5:00 a.m. Within an hour of the first murder, the two men attacked and killed Roman Tatarevich, as he slept on a bench near the first murder scene. Tatarevich's head was smashed with blunt objects numerous times, rendering him unrecognizable. The bench was located across the street from the local public prosecutor's office.