Alexander Elistratov

Elistratov was born in Ulyanovsk in 1954, but moved to the Kazakh SSR at an early age. In 1990, he returned to Russia, settling in Moscow's Federal Avenue with his wife, who gave birth to two sons. The couple later divorced, with the woman claiming that Alexander never paid for anything, but they still decided to live together as a family.[1] Elistratov was described very positively by his acquaintances, especially by his blind neighbor Alesya, who claimed that he would drive her for free around the city and even buy her family salmon, despite being a man of modest means. Unbeknownst to them, Elistratov had four criminal convictions: two for illegal possession of weaponry, and one each for theft and robbery, but due to negligence of the authorities, he was presented as a first-time offender during his trials for the third and fourth convictions, for which he was given a 4-year suspended sentence in 2004.[1]

That same year, Elistratov bought a rusty, old VAZ-2101, whose previous owner had recently died, signing it in the dead man's name. He presented himself as a private taxi driver, despite the fact that his passport, which was issued in the former Soviet Union and was now invalid since the country had dissolved, was never reported to the authorities, and he was allowed to continue his illegal practice undetected.[1] One day, while browsing through the Cherkizovsky Market, he bought himself a homemade hunting rifle, which was modified to function like a sawn-off shotgun, stashing the weapon under the driver's seat.[2] His modus operandi was to pick up potential victims in Moscow's Eastern and Northeastern Districts, always at night and near his home. As a rule of thumb, he would only attack victims who he thought had considerable riches, threatening to shoot them if they didn't give them up. If the victim resisted, he shot them with the sawn-off, dropping off the bodies on the side of the road and rummaging through their valuables, stealing only money and discarding the rest in garbage containers. He would use the stolen rubles to finance his family, saving up for a new car and apartment as well.[3]

The hunt for the so-called "Bloody Taxi Driver" stirred great controversy in the city, since, as it would later turn out, the agencies could've captured the criminal much earlier and prevented any further bloodshed. On the body of one victim, a bloody newspaper was found which detailed the then-recent arrest of Alexander Pichushkin. In it, investigators noticed that an apartment number, 39, was stamped by a postman, and they subsequently checked every single apartment in the city which had that number. Astonishingly, they also visited the Elistratov family's home, but since Alexander wasn't officially registered as a citizen living in Moscow, but instead as still living in his hometown of Ulyanovsk, he managed to avoid arrest.[1]

During the subsequent investigations, Elistratov partially admitted guilt, claiming that he had killed the last victim, Zhukov, by negligence: according to him, Andrey started arguing with him, and had attempted to pull his sawn-off away from him when the weapon accidentally discharged.[2] However, his claims were disregarded, and not long after, several blood samples which were found on his car were connected to the various murder victims. Elistratov was ordered an examination at the Serbsky Center, where he was found to be sane and completely aware of his actions, but was determined to have an aggressive personality. During his trial, he kicked a Kommersant journalist who was filming him.[2] His refusal to divulge his motive for the murders led the Russian media to peddle various theories, varying from ethnic hatred (as the majority of his victims were foreigners or looked like ones) to envy against the working class, with some claiming that he prayed for his victims' soul in front of the icons in his home,[3] and even that he had seen some of his future victims in his dreams, appearing before him in the forms of pigeons and doves. However, none of these were confirmed.[1]

On March 26, 2008, the Moscow City Court sentenced Alexander Elistratov to life imprisonment, with the verdict upheld by the Supreme Court of Russia.[3] He is currently imprisoned at the Polar Owl Colony, from where he tried to unsuccessfully escape on June 3, 2011.[1]

• List of Russian serial killers