Anatoly Moskvin

Anatoly Moskvin was born in the city of Gorky in Soviet Russia, which is now known as Nizhny Novgorod.[2] As a schoolboy, Moskvin began wandering through cemeteries with friends, particularly the Krasnaya Etna Cemetery in the city's Leninsky district.[8][9][10] In an article written shortly before his arrest, he attributed his interest in the dead to a childhood incident in which he witnessed a funeral procession for an eleven-year-old girl.[10][11] Moskvin alleged that the participants forced him to kiss the dead girl's face, writing that "an adult pushed my face down to the waxy forehead of the girl in an embroidered cap, and there was nothing I could do but kiss her as ordered."[9][10][11]

After graduating from the philological faculty of Moscow State University, Moskvin became well known in academic circles.[8][3] His main areas of academic interests were Celtic history and folklore, as well as languages and linguistics.[12][13] Moskvin had a deep interest in cemeteries, burial rituals,[8] death,[10][11] and the occult.[11][12][13] He kept a personal library of over 60,000 books and documents,[12] as well as a large doll collection.[11] Fellow academics described Moskvin as both a genius[12] and an eccentric.[8]

As an adult, Moskvin led a secluded life.[3] He never married or dated,[9] preferring to live with his parents.[11][12][9][13] He abstained from drinking alcohol and smoking[9] and is purportedly a virgin.[12] In 2016, it was reported that Moskvin planned to marry a 25-year-old native of his hometown who attended his trial.[14][15]

A former lecturer in Celtic studies at Nizhny Novgorod Linguistic University,[12] Moskvin previously worked at the Institute of Foreign Languages.[13] A philologist, linguist and polyglot who speaks thirteen languages, he has written several books, papers and translations, all well known in academic circles.[8] Moskvin also occasionally worked as a journalist[16] and regularly contributed to local newspapers and publications.[11] Describing himself as a "necropolist", Moskvin was considered an expert on local cemeteries in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.[8]

In 2005, Oleg Riabov, a fellow academic and publisher, commissioned Moskvin to summarize and list the dead in more than 700 cemeteries in forty regions of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast.[17] Moskvin claimed that over the next two years, he had gone on foot to inspect 752 cemeteries across the region, walking up to 30 km (18.6 miles) a day.[10] During these travels, he drank from puddles, spent nights in haystacks and at abandoned farms, or slept in the cemeteries themselves, even going so far as to spend a night in a coffin being prepared for a funeral.[8][9] On his extensive travels, Moskvin was sometimes questioned by police on the suspicion of vandalism and theft, but was never arrested or detained after stating his academic credentials and purpose.[9] The work itself remains unpublished but has been described as "unique" and "priceless" by Alexei Yesin, the editor of Necrologies, a weekly paper to which Moskvin was a regular contributor.[12][17] After his arrest, Yesin stated that he was confident there had been a mistake and Moskvin would be exonerated.[9] Later, Yesin told the Associated Press that Moskvin was a loner who had "certain quirks" but who gave no indication that he was up to anything unusual.[8]

Between 2006 and 2010, Moskvin worked as a freelance correspondent for the newspaper Nizhny Novgorod Worker, publishing articles twice a month. His father also sometimes wrote for the same paper.[9] During 2008, Moskvin wrote an extensive series of articles on the history of Nizhny Novgorod cemeteries that appeared in the paper.[3][13]

Moskvin was arrested on November 2, 2011, by police investigating a spate of grave desecrations in cemeteries in and around Nizhny Novgorod.[8][13] Investigators from the Centre for Combating Extremism discovered the twenty-six bodies,[1][2] initially reported as twenty-nine,[8][11] in Moskvin's flat and garage.[8] Video[18] released by police shows the bodies seated on shelves and sofas in small rooms full of books, papers and general clutter.[8] Although only twenty-six bodies were discovered in his home, Moskvin was suspected of desecrating as many as 150 graves[16] after police found numerous grave accoutrements such as metal nameplates removed from headstones. Police also discovered instructions for making the "dolls", maps of cemeteries in the region, and a collection of photographs and videos depicting open graves and disinterred bodies, though none of this evidence could be conclusively connected to any of the bodies found in the apartment.[8][11] According to the investigation, the bodies primarily came from cemeteries in the Nizhny Novgorod region, though some may have come from as far away as Moscow.[2][3][13] Moskvin actively cooperated with investigators[2] and claimed he made the dolls over the course of ten years. His parents, who were away for large portions of the year, were unaware of his activities.[13]

Moskvin was charged under Article 244 of the Criminal Code for the desecration of graves and dead bodies, a charge which carried up to five years in prison.[2][3] Originally Moskvin was also accused of having defaced the graves of Muslims,[2] considered a hate crime, but this charge was later dropped.[12] After a psychiatric evaluation, it was determined that Moskvin had a form of paranoid schizophrenia.[2] In a hearing on 25 May 2012, the Leninsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod deemed Moskvin unfit to stand trial, releasing him from criminal liability. He was instead sentenced to "coercive medical measures".[7] The prosecution was satisfied with the decision and did not appeal the verdict.[5]

Moskvin was moved to a psychiatric clinic, with his stay to be reviewed regularly. In February 2013, a hearing approved an extension of his treatment.[19] Moskvin's treatment was again extended April 2014,[16] and yet again in July 2015.[20] In 2014 a spokesman stated, "After three years of monitoring him in a psychiatric clinic, it is absolutely clear that Moskvin is not mentally fit for trial...He will therefore be kept for psychiatric treatment at the clinic."[16] In September 2018 Moskvin's doctors stated that he was no longer dangerous and petitioned the court to release him for outpatient care from home;[21] however, in February 2019 a subsequent psychiatric evaluation found that it was too early to release Moskvin, and the hospital withdrew their petition.[22]

Publications contributed to:

• Moskvin wrote regularly for Necrologies, a weekly newspaper that publishes obituaries and stories about cemeteries and famous dead people.[12][17]
• In 2009–2010 he regularly contributed to the newspaper Nizhny Novgorod Worker.[9][13]

Dictionaries

• English-Russian and Russian-English dictionary of the most common words and expressions. About 45 000 words. / Comp. Moskvin A. Yu. - M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2009. - 719 p. - (Large vocabulary). - ISBN 978-5-9524-4088-3.
• School Anglo-Russian and Russian-English dictionary / comp. Moskvin A. Yu. - M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2014. - 640 p. - (School dictionaries). - ISBN 978-5-227-05185-1.
• Great Dictionary of Foreign Words. Over 25,000 words / comp. Moskvin A. Yu. - 7 th ed., Rev. and additional .. - M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2008. - 688 p. - (Large vocabulary). - ISBN 978-5-9524-3984-9.
• School phrasebook Russian language / comp. Moskvin A. Yu. - M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2012, 2013. - 639 p. - (School dictionaries). - ISBN 978-5-227-04592-8.

Translations

• Wilson T. History of the swastika from ancient times to the present day = The Swastika: The Earliest Known symbol and Its Migrations / per. with English .: Moskvin A. Yu. - N. Novgorod Books, 2008. - 528 p. - ISBN 978-5-94706-053-9.

Essays/Chapters

• Moskvin A. Yu Cross without crucifix // The history of the swastika from ancient times to the present day. - N. Novgorod: Publishing House "Books", 2008. - S. 355–526. - 528 p. - ISBN 978-5-94706-053-9.

• Grave robbery
• Body snatching
• Property crime
• Carl Tanzler
• Burke and Hare murders
• Ed Gein

• Police video of Moskvin's home post-arrest on YouTube