'She drinks, he stinks': Shopkeeper recalls experience with Russia's 'cannibal couple'
A shopkeeper who knows the Russian 'cannibal couple' suspected of killing a woman and reported to have eaten around 30 people, told Ruptly news agency that the husband has a "smell" to him and the woman "likes to drink."
The store clerk, who knows the couple for 10 years, said they often came to her shop "to buy cigarettes."
"The wife likes to drink. However, he is a hard-working man," she told Ruptly from her store in Krasnodar, referring to 35-year-old suspect Dmitry Baksheev and his wife, 42-year-old Natalia Baksheeva.
The shopkeeper referred to Baksheev as being "friendly," noting that he often said "hello,""please," and "goodbye."
She recalled, however, that Baksheev had a "smell" to him, as if he didn't shower. She believed the odor could have been caused by dogs and cats kept inside the couple's house.
Baksheev worked at a construction site, laying tiles, according to the woman.
"He was always wearing work clothes, carrying around tools and building materials. When I heard about what had happened, I was shocked."
The wife, meanwhile, was described by the shopkeeper of being a "very untidy woman" who used to work as a nurse.
Lately, however, the wife "didn't work at all, just drank."
Another local shopkeeper told Ruptly that the husband came to her establishment almost every morning to drink a cup of coffee with ice cream.
“It was obvious that he was in need. He always bought the cheapest stuff,” she said. As for the wife, “she always bought sweet treats.”
The couple wasn’t very talkative as “the man never got involved in a conversation” and the woman talked when “she was drunk,” only discussing mundane things, the shopkeeper recalled.
She also said that Baksheeva tried to look after herself, always wearing makeup and having lipstick on.
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The couple’s neighbor said that the woman’s alcoholism was no secret to the people living around her.
“She was calm. But, you know, when a person is drinking – it shows. Judging by her looks it was obvious that she has a drinking problem,” he said.
“Lately, she’s been drunk much more. It never happened before. She used to work somewhere previously, took care of herself. But then suddenly it all went downhill for her,” the neighbor said.
He added that he had nothing bad to say about the husband, describing him as an “OK guy.”
The remarks by the locals are the latest to shed light on the so-called 'cannibal couple,' whom authorities are now investigating over the killing of a woman.
The Russian media also reported earlier on more gruesome details of the case, saying that the couple may be responsible for killing and eating up to 30 people. According to an RT police source, they have confessed to the killings, yet there is no official announcement on that so far.
It is said that the couple has been killing and eating their victims since 1999.
The blood-chilling secret was finally brought to light when a construction worker found a phone belonging to Baksheev on the street, which showed him posing for photos next to what appeared to be the head and wrists of a woman.
Disturbed by the images he had seen, the man took the phone to a local police station, where authorities were able to trace the sim card to Baksheev.
He and his wife Natalia were later detained, and authorities searched their home to find cans containing a salty solution and “meat” parts, which they are now verifying over whether they belong to a human.
