Early life[]
Alexander Yurpalov was born in 1960 in Zelenograd, Moscow Oblast. His parents were representatives of the Soviet nomenklatura, with his mother being a member of the local secretariat at a children's institution, while his father Semyon was the director of a research institute. Due to this, Yurpalov grew up in relative wealth and graduated school in 1977. After initially enrolling in a university, he quickly lost interest in studying and instead spent his time cruising around the city with his VAZ-2101 picking up young girls and women.[1]
In 1978, according to investigators, Yurpalov committed several rapes. Using his attractive appearance and athletic physique, he effortlessly won the trust of women and lured them into his car. Upon doing so, he would drive to the outskirts of the city, where he would force her to have sex with him. If the woman refused, Yurpalov would sexually assault her.[2] A number of his victims refused to go to the police out of fear of publicity and damage to their reputation - on the other hand, if they did report the attacks, Yurpalov was never considered a serious suspect due to his positive reputation.[1]
Imprisonment and transfer to Balakovo[]
In mid-1978, one of Yurpalov's victims violently resisted him during an attempted rape, smashing in his face and breaking the windshield of the car, after which she managed to escape. She soon contacted the police and gave a description of her assailant, leading to his arrest.[1] Initially, Yurpalov was charged with rape, but thanks to his influential father, the charge was downgraded to malicious hooliganism. As a result, he was instead sentenced to a lenient sentence of 4 years imprisonment.[2]
After serving half of his sentence, Yurpalov filed a petition to replace his remaining sentence with forced labor, which was accepted. At the beginning of 1980, he was transferred to Balakovo, Saratov Oblast, which was the only city in the USSR where as many as five shock construction projects were deployed at a time.[1] Upon his arrival, he found housing in a hostel and began working as a driver for "HPP-Stroy". At the company, Yurpalov was regarded positively by his supervisors and colleagues, as he was efficient, did not smoke or drink. Despite this, Yurpalov's sexual urges welled up once again, after which he started searching for new victims.[1]
Murders[]
Initial attacks[]
In the spring of 1980, Yurpalov raped a teenage boy in an area near one of the lock bridges in Balakovo and then attempted to strangle him. He then threw the body into a nearby river - however, the teenager regained consciousness and managed to swim onto shore. The boy's parents immediately contacted the police and, using their son's testimony, aided in the creation of a facial composite that showed that the attacker had a red-colored trouser belt with a plaque.[1] The composite was distributed across all hostels that housed convicts doing forced labor, with one of the controllers identifying Yurpalov as the rapist. However, another one vigorously defended him, leading to him being ignored. It later emerged that this man was on friendly terms with Yurpalov, as he was regularly bribed by the young man in exchange for him defending him.[1]
At the end of June, Yurpalov was at the "Khimik" disco, where he spotted 18-year-old Elena Potekhina. Once the event ended, he chased after her and attacked her on the doorstep of her apartment building. He dragged Potekhina into a nearby basement, where he strangled her using a belt from her dress.[1]
On 3 August, Yurpalov was again at the "Khimik" disco when he came across 21-year-old Irina Khramova. After following her to the nearby school grounds, he strangled Khramova using a noose made from her own bra. Because the two murders were disturbingly similar, a panic ensued in the city and multiple groups of Voluntary People's Druzhinna members started patrolling the streets. As a consequence, Yurpalov changed up his modus operandi in order to avoid capture, switching from attacking young women to prepubescent boys.[1]
Further murders[]
At the end of August, Yurpalov attacked 11-year-old Sergei Chetvertinkin and his friend Yuri at a construction site, where the boys had gone to find wooden laths. After waiting for a moment, Yurpalov hit Yuri on the head with a brick, and ordered Chetvertinkin to stand still. Yurpalov then undressed Yuri and attempted to rape him, but the boy managed to fight him off, after which both he and Chetvertinkin escaped. On the same day, Yurpalov lured another young boy to the construction site, whom he successfully raped and then strangled to death.[1]
In October, Yurpalov was walking around a forest when he spotted 12-year-old Dmitry "Dima" Lozovoy. At the time, Dima was resting after getting tired of riding his bike along with his father, Vasily, who had continued on for one further ride. Using this to his advantage, Yurpalov raped and strangled the boy to death.[2]
In November, Yurpalov and two unnamed accomplices got into the car of a man named Sergei Bykov, who offered services as a private taxi driver during evenings. Upon getting inside, Yurpalov and the accomplices strangled Bykov with his own scarf, after which they commandeered his vehicle and drove to a pumping station near Saratov, where they dumped his body. The murdered man's car was found abandoned a few days later.[1]
Arrest, trial and execution[]
Upon examining some fingerprints left in the interior of the car, they were identified as belonging to Yurpalov - however, this was not considered conclusive evidence that he was the killer, as many people entered the car due to Bykov's occupation as a taxi driver. At around the same time, a resident of Balakovo surnamed Sentsov contacted the police to report that his motorcycle had been stolen.[1] The man claimed that shortly after the theft, he responded to an advertisement for the sale of a motorcycle and went there to purchase it, but upon seeing it, he realized that it was his own stolen motorcycle. He then fought with the man, who sped away with it. At the police station, the investigators showed Sentsov a photograph of Yurpalov, whom he confidently identified as the seller.[1]
After this revelation, Yurpalov became the suspect in numerous carjackings across Balakovo and the murder of Bykov, but fearing that he would violently resist arrest, investigators decided to trick him. To do so, Police Major Anatoly Kuryshev went to his hostel and invited him to come down to the police station to obtain some documents relate to his forced labor assignment, to which Yurpalov agreed and voluntarily accompanied him.[1] Once at the police station, he was immediately detained and accused of the crimes, but he steadfastly denied responsibility. This all changed on the following day, when Yurpalov admitted responsibility not only for the hijackings and Bykov's murder, but all the other crimes as well.[1]
According to him, as a car enthuasiast and lover of fast driving, he and some people he stayed at the hostel committed about 30 car thefts, which they then submerged into a canal near the Balakovo CHPP.[2] Yurpalov said that in regard to Bykov's murder, they intended to go to the Saratov Airport and take several hostages, but the car broke down along the way, after which they abandoned it. Following these revelations, the two accomplices were also arrested and charged for their respective roles in the crimes.[1]
In 1981, Alexander Yurpalov was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to death, while the two accomplices were each sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. The controller who covered for him was also convicted for bribery, and sentenced to 8 years imprisonment.[3] Following his conviction, Yurpalov's parents filed a petition for clemency to Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev and the Minister of Internal Affairs Nikolai Shchelokov, but it went unanswered. Yurpalov's appeals were all subsequently denied, and he was executed on 11 September 1981.[4]
Victims[]
Murder victims[]
| Name | Age | Date of Death | Cause of Death |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elena Potekhina | 18 | late June 1980 | Strangulation |
| Irina Khramova | 21 | 3 August 1980 | Strangulation |
| Unnamed young boy | late August 1980 | Strangulation | |
| Dmitry Lozovoy | 12 | October 1980 | Strangulation |
| Sergei Bykov | November 1980 | Strangulation |
Attacked victims[]
| Name | Age | Date of Attack |
|---|---|---|
| Unnamed teenage boy | spring of 1980 | |
| Sergei Chetvertinkin | 11 | late August 1980 |
| "Yuri" | "young" | late August 1980 |
Timeline[]
Bibliography[]
Literature[]
Articles[]
Documentaries[]
Television[]
The case was covered on an episode of "The Investigation Was Conducted.." (Russian: Следствие вели), titled "Dangerous Dances" (Russian: Опасные танцы).[5]
YouTube Documentaries[]
Podcasts[]
In popular culture[]
Film adaptation[]
Related Articles[]
See also[]
Links[]
Notes[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 Dangerous Dances
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Irina Butenko (23 September 2018). Thirty drowned cars: The Story of the Catch of the Balakovo Maniac (Russian). Nversia.ru. Archived from the original on March 28, 2025.
- ↑ Presented Leonid Kanevsky told NTV about the Balakovo maniac from the 80s (ru). 4vsar.ru (24 September 2018). Archived from the original on March 28, 2025.
- ↑ "The Investigation Was Conducted." Leonid Kanevsky Will Tell About the Balakovo Maniac (ru). go64.ru (23 August 2018). Archived from the original on March 28, 2025.
- ↑ NTV showed a program about the Balakovo maniac (ru). Sarnovosti (23 September 2018). Archived from the original on March 28, 2025.