Brutal advance: trial on double murder of prostitutes began in Moscow

Moscow City Court began to consider the case of murders of girls working in the field of intimate services. According to the investigation materials, in December 2023 in Moscow, 38-year-old Alexei Varakin took the lives of two young women a few days apart: one at her home, the other at his hotel. Earlier, the accused was already tried for similar crimes in St. Petersburg. Then Varakin was recognized as insane and assigned him compulsory psychiatric treatment. He spent 13 years in the hospital, and two months before the new murders he was discharged and came to Moscow. If the court finds the defendant sane, he faces life imprisonment, lawyers say. Otherwise, he will be sent back to compulsory treatment.

Double murder of prostitutes in Moscow

January 28, Moscow City Court began to consider the merits of the case of 38-year-old Alexei Varakin, accused of two murders of sex workers in Moscow. According to the investigation, the defendant killed 25-year-old Vlada S. and 26-year-old Olga V. in 2023, on the eve of the New Year holidays, a few days apart. He was detained at the scene of the crime in the apartment of Vlada, to whom he had come for intimate services.

According to the materials of the case, on the threshold of the apartment between him and the girl broke out a conflict over the price - having seen the client in person, the victim decided to triple the fee. In response, the suspect grabbed a knife and stabbed her several times.

Bleeding, the victim managed to run into the room and lock it with the latch. From there she called her friend via video link, the latter called the police, but by the time the operatives arrived, Vlada was already dead. Varakin remained in the apartment all this time - until the arrival of the squad, which detained him.

During interrogation, the suspect unexpectedly reported another murder, committed in a Moscow hotel a day before. On December 22, 2023, he called a girl to him, and after a conflict he stabbed her in the bathroom. About the fact that in the room for the second day lies the body, the hotel staff learned only when the police arrived to them.

Having checked the information about the suspect, the investigators found out that he was once already on a similar case - two murders committed in 2010 in St. Petersburg. Varakin's victims then were also girls with whom he met for intimate services.

13 years ago, an expert examination declared Varakin insane. The court sent him for compulsory treatment in St. Petersburg psychiatric hospital of specialized type with intensive supervision. After being discharged from the hospital, he moved to Moscow and settled in a hotel. And two months later he committed new crimes.

Denial of security for the sake of additional income

To find out what the situation on the intimate services market is like after the series of murders, Izvestia contacted one of the St. Petersburg agencies. Its representative told us that the issue of security is treated strictly. The girls serve clients in an apart-hotel, where there is constant videotaping.

- We are counting on the fact that a person who goes to such a place is not going to kill. There are drunken clients, but there is security from the agency on duty. The manager and the girls are in touch around the clock, and the guests are checked," our interviewee added.

The representative of the escort agency named the rates. According to her, the girls get 60% of the order worth 10 thousand rubles. per hour, if the price is below this mark, they get half.

But not all prostitutes are ready to give a significant part of their income, and prefer to work for themselves: they advertise in Telegram, and then meet with clients in a hotel or rented apartment, as it was done by the victims. Now, in the largest messenger channel dedicated to prostitution (more than 15,000 subscribers), about half of such ads are from independent sex workers. Such girls are not protected in any way at all.

Treatment or imprisonment

At the trial, the 38-year-old Varakin admitted guilt only with regard to one girl, and evasively said that "it is necessary to deal with the injured party". He also added that he was not ready to testify at this stage of the trial and wanted to consult with his lawyer first. On the eve of the hearing, he did not hide his face from journalists and scrutinized the papers he took out of a folder lying next to him.

Talking to the judge, Varakin was always smiling and behaving strangely. He answered questions in a high-pitched manner and demanded to make the session closed.

- Absolutely and thoroughly support to close the trial. A whole bouquet of mental illnesses will be voiced here, which it is better not to listen to. Let them leave," he told the court.

The court closed the process, but not only taking into account Varakin's opinion, but first of all, because the personal data of the murdered girls will be announced at the trial.

Representatives of the victims did not appear at the hearing, their testimony, given during the investigation, was read out by the prosecutor. The mother of one of the dead girls, Vlada S., told the investigators that her daughter was "a good girl, did not do anything unfavorable". The sister of the second deceased Olga V. said that after the death of her mother, the girl lived with a friend in Moscow. Several times her sister found syringes at her place, but knew nothing about her meetings with men.

The defendant's lawyer refused to comment to Izvestia.

Since Alexei Varakin has previously committed a particularly serious crime, his actions will be recognized as a particularly dangerous recidivism, even though more than ten years have passed since the first murders, Egor Panin, a partner in the Avex Just law firm, told Izvestia.

- If the expertise recognizes Varakin as sane and the court establishes his continued danger to society, he faces punishment up to life imprisonment," the lawyer said.

Whether the killer of prostitutes is recognized as insane

Only a court can declare Varakin repeatedly insane, medical lawyer Asad Yusufov told Izvestia.

- The court makes its decision based on the conclusion of a commission of psychiatrists," he said. - During the investigation, such an expert examination is also conducted, but only the court makes the final decision. The court may decide that the previous examination was conducted with violations, not recognize its results and appoint a new one.

According to the lawyer, if Varakin is found insane, he will again be sent for compulsory psychiatric treatment. But relatives of the murdered girls, recognized as victims in the case, may disagree with this. They have the right to challenge the results of such an examination, but in practice, the court rarely recognizes as illegal the expert examination, which he himself appointed.

- There is a special category of defendants, who by corrupt means achieve the recognition of insanity, - the expert gave an example. - And when they get to treatment, they use the same means to organize a resort for themselves - they eat and drink normally, they seem to be prescribed pills, but they throw them away. But Varakin clearly does not belong to this category.

A person is recognized as insane not only by the fact that he or she has a psychiatric disease, but also by a combination of several factors, Asad Yusufov added. In addition to diagnoses, doctors take into account the patient's age and ask him questions designed to establish how adequately he perceives the world around him. It is virtually impossible to simulate insanity at the current level of development of psychiatry, he said. So the doctors who will examine Varakin can be safely trusted, the lawyer summarized.