The "Angarsk maniac" confessed to the murder of a cleaning lady in 2011

The "Angarsk maniac" Mikhail Popkov confessed to the murder of a school cleaner, whom he hacked to death with a tourist axe in 2011. This was announced on April 8 by a source of Izvestia.

The body of a charred cleaner was found in May 2011 in an abandoned water pumping station in a park in Angarsk. According to the examination, the woman died as a result of a fractured skull.

"On the evening of May 22, 2011, the cleaner was returning home. Near an abandoned water pumping station, she met Popkov, with whom she had a conflict. Popkov hit the woman several times with a tourist hatchet, doused her with solvent and set her on fire," the source recalled the events.

Popkov himself, while serving a life sentence, confirmed the murder of the cleaner and fully admitted guilt in the crime.

The "Angarsk maniac" is considered the bloodiest criminal in the modern history of Russia: He has 86 victims to his credit. Popkov committed all his crimes in the Irkutsk region from 1992 to 2010.

In 2015, Popkov was convicted of 22 murders and received his first life sentence. He was sentenced for the second time three years later, when it was possible to prove his involvement in 59 more deaths.

In July 2021, the court sentenced Popkov to nine years and eight months in prison in the case of two more murders committed in 1995. He received his last sentence in November 2023, receiving another 10 years in prison.

In January 2024, the press service of the Prosecutor's office of the Irkutsk region reported that Popkov had been transferred from Irkutsk to Mordovia, noting that he had been given a final sentence of life imprisonment to be served in a special regime colony.