The whole horror of this story is that it is true from beginning to end. These events took place in September of this year in Voronezh and shocked the inhabitants of this millionth city. In a short time, an unknown criminal committed two murders and two attempts, as a result of which the victims, although they remained alive, were in a serious condition in a hospital. All four crimes were committed against women. This provoked a rumor that a maniac had appeared in Voronezh.
The tragedy of the first autumn days
The drama, which was played at the beginning of this fall, was widely covered in the press, but, as often happens, the information was sometimes contradictory. Question: “Have you caught a maniac in Voronezh?” worried millions of people. We will try to restore the course of events using only the most reliable sources and comparing the facts set forth in them. We will try to understand whether the criminal was a person suffering from a particular psychological pathology, or we have before us an example of extreme moral degradation that pushed him to shed blood.
So, the maniac in Voronezh (we will call him that) first announced himself on September 1. In the early morning, he entered the house of the head of the village administration, Natalya Kolodyazhnaya, and brutally slaughtered her elderly mother, Anna Kholopova, and her five-year-old daughter Masha. The official herself at that time was at events dedicated to the beginning of the school year. Further from the materials of the investigation it is known that, using passing vehicles, he left for the left-bank part of the city, where blood was spilled again through his fault. This time, his victim was a woman - the seller of one of the stores.
Identification of the offender
For no apparent reason, the unknown stabbed her in the head with a knife. Fortunately, the wound was non-fatal, but the victim was in a hospital bed as a result of a large loss of blood and shock caused by the actions of the offender. However, from that moment on, the killer was identified. Bursting into the store, he fell into the lens of surveillance cameras, and very soon the investigators established the name and surname that the maniac wore.
More than a million people currently live in Voronezh, but it took a few minutes to state with full confidence: the killer is 64-year-old Vladimir Merkulov, previously convicted of hooliganism and possession of weapons. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he only recently was released from prison and returned to the city.
First operational actions
The investigators also had at their disposal the address at which, after returning from the colony, the killer registered. It turned out that he lived in the left-bank part of the city, in the area where he attacked in a store. In case of his appearance, an ambush was immediately established at the indicated address.
From the very early morning, when blood spilled in the house of the head of the district administration, the entire operational structure of the local department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was raised on alarm. By the middle of the day, the terrible news hit social networks and instantly flew all over Voronezh. The maniac on September 1 became the main theme of most Internet sites and the media. They talked about him on the streets and on local television.
Threat to the safety of citizens
The tension was warmed up by the fact that in 2010 they caught a maniac in Voronezh who raped schoolgirls. It was still fresh in the memory of the townspeople. Five years ago, a maniac in the park Tanais (Voronezh) stole his victims and launched attacks. Then he was able to stop as a result of coordinated actions of law enforcement officers and residents.
So, the identity of the offender was established , but that's not all. The main thing is to detain him, not to continue the chain of bloody crimes. And at that time Vladimir Merkulov was still at large and thereby threatened the life and safety of Voronezh residents. In order to speed up the detention process as much as possible, they showed his photograph on television and gave signs of the killer.
It was strongly recommended to pay attention to a 64-year-old man of medium height, thin, with bald patches on a graying head. Special signs are the mustache and the absence of front teeth. He was reportedly dressed most likely in a plaid shirt, black trousers and brown boots. It was emphasized that it has great physical strength. Of course, in a millionth city there can be a lot of people with such signs, but even these data will be able to alert his potential victim and, possibly, save her life.
Attempted Attorney
Meanwhile, the maniac in Voronezh was preparing a new murder. After the attack on the store seller, Merkulov got on a minibus on Ilyich Street and drove to the Chizhov Gallery. There he went out and went to the building of the regional prosecutor's office. When he approached the door, it unexpectedly opened, and the deputy district prosecutor Olga Zemlyanuhina went out into the street.
All the following was so unbelievable that it would seem to others to be shots from the television "Chernukha". The man suddenly drew a knife and, in front of everyone, struck a defenseless woman several blows. His victim fell, and the asphalt around her darkened with blood. Taking advantage of the general confusion, Merkulov managed to escape. This was the fourth attack that the maniac made that day. In Voronezh, all the forces at the disposal of the local Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were mobilized to capture him.
Motives of crime
The head of the investigative committee, in an interview with reporters, said that the choice of the victims of the killer is not accidental. According to reports, Merkulov had repeatedly entered into conflicts with the head of the administration of his region - Natalia Kolodyazhnaya. It is hard to imagine, but as revenge, he chose the murder of two innocent people - her elderly mother and her young daughter. In addition, it was no accident that blood was shed by prosecutors. According to Levitic, it was she who dealt with Merkulov’s affairs, and the offender had reasons for hatred.
New circumstances of the case
The investigating authorities had information that, hiding from the persecution, he got in passing vehicles to the village of Nechaevka in the Rostov Region, but the verification did not give any results. Thousands of people were worried about the question: did they catch a maniac in Voronezh, or not? The case was taken under control by the highest federal authorities. Police officers were on duty around the clock, checking all vehicles. A citywide interception plan was announced.
A search was conducted in the house of Vladimir Merkulov, as a result of which letters were found that were addressed to a number of state institutions and containing complaints to thirteen people - residents of the city and region, who irritated him with something. It turns out that this monster, who in cold blood killed a child and an elderly woman, demanded from others a lawful and correct attitude. A list of the persons mentioned in the letters was compiled immediately, and all of them were taken into custody, as they could become potential victims.
Searches continued for three days. During this period, the most contradictory information appeared in social networks and in the media. Some sources claimed that they had already caught a maniac in Voronezh, while others denied this message. An unexpected impetus in the case of the capture of the criminal was a message received on September 3 on the control of a city duty officer that truck drivers identified a man being wanted on a man walking along the highway.
The final stage of the operation
An operative group arrived urgently in the area and the persecution began. Soon managed to surround Merkulov (in the cemetery). Fortunately, he had not yet managed to leave Voronezh. The maniac, who committed a double murder on September 1, gave the operatives armed resistance and opened fire on them from a sawn-off shotgun. In the ensuing skirmish, he was killed.
According to the data available to the prosecutor, Vladimir Merkulov was absolutely sane, as evidenced by the results of previous examinations. Consequently, in this case we can talk not about any form of mental disorder, but about the extreme degree of moral degradation that caused the tragedy.