Selfies with human remains: Russian ‘cannibal couple’ detained after gruesome find
Blood-chilling photos on a cell phone found by a construction worker have led to the capture of a suspected cannibal couple in Russia, who according to local media ate over two dozen people after committing murders over a period spanning 20 years.
The allegations covered by various media outlets are nothing short of spine-chilling.
According to initial reports, the couple, from Russia’s Krasnodar Region, has allegedly been involved in the gruesome practice since 1999. It was also said that the couple was in fact responsible for the deaths of up to 30 people.
The gruesome details by the media even went far as to state that the duo – who lived in a military dormitory – not only engaged in the practice on their own, but also sought to “serve the men.”
The couple reportedly manufactured canned human meet for their own stockpile and to feed to the servicemen in the nearby military school, where the woman worked as a nurse.
Seven packs of body parts, 19 samples of human skin, and human remains pickled in jars were all found in the freezer and cellar of the Krasnodar house of horrors, according to Russian media reports.
Officials have so far not confirmed the allegations, although the details revealed by the authorities are shocking. Police sources told RT’s Ruptly news agency on condition of anonymity that the couple indeed were suspected of mass killings and cannibalism.
The horrendous story began to unfold when construction worker Roman Khomyakov arrived at a police station in the Krasnodar Region of southern Russia on September 11, greatly disturbed by the sickening images on a phone he’d found on the street.
On the black Samsung’s cracked screen, Khomyakov swiped through a series of gruesome pictures showing a man posing for selfies with what appeared to be the head and wrists of a woman. Khomyakov told police he’d been even more shocked when the same man approached him on the street to ask if he’d picked up a phone in the area.
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Krasnodar police traced the sim card to a 35-year-old man with an address at a Krasnodar military aviation school dormitory, where he is reportedly an employee along with his wife Natalia. “They [the suspects] are now detained,” the Investigative Committee said in a statement.
A bloody bucket was found during a raid on the home, and investigators discovered unknown substances “in a salt liquid.”
In addition, law enforcement found food fragments "and frozen meat of unknown origin in the kitchen,” according to Russia’s Investigative Committee.
Authorities are now trying to establish "whether the meat found belongs to a human or animal.”
“Apart from that, some body remnants of the dead woman were found in the basement and adjacent territory.”
Under questioning, the male suspect claimed he found the body parts in a forest on the evening of September 8. He said he then put them in his backpack and went home, where “he took several pictures of the head on his cell phone, then put the head and the wrist in a plastic bucket and filled with water and went to sleep,” according to a police statement.
The following day, the man traveled around the city on public transport with the wrist stowed in his bag, before taking it out at an apartment he was renovating, then taking more selfies with the fingers in his mouth and nose.
On the morning of September 10, he reportedly made the decision to cut the scalp from the head before dumping the remaining limbs in the bins behind the dormitory near his home.
“He can’t explain his actions,” police said.
Staff and students at the military training college were enlisted to help with the search around the grounds of the school, where they uncovered the alleged scalp.
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Police visited the local area to see if anyone could identify the slain woman. Some locals recognized her, although no one could name her.
"Theories and reports of possible involvement of the detained in other crimes on the region’s territory will be worked out throughout the preliminary investigation,” authorities announced.
