Biography[]
It is not easy to reliably track the early years of a future criminal, and information about Zhestkov's youth varies from different sources. Ilya's childhood was not the most pleasant. Presumably, he was born in 1945, at a difficult time for the USSR. His sister, brother and father were probably in camps, which could affect the boy's psyche. In the 1960s, Ilya got a job in the Navy, where he sometimes began stealing money from colleagues.
On 19 May, 1968, Albert Lichenko, a 28-year-old sailor from Nakhodka, went on a business trip to Sevastopol. At the Vladivostok airport, the guy was already tipsy and in the airport restaurant he met midshipman Zhestkov, who was with his girlfriend. And during the feast, a conflict arose between them. This went out to talk behind the airport building. But Zhestkov pulled out a dirk and struck Lichenko 14 times. After being detained during interrogations, the midshipman said, "I realized that I had to live one day, here and now, and get everything possible out of life!" he said directly into the protocol
He continued his bloody streak in August. He lured his victims by offering the girls he liked to star in a movie. It was a reliable dating option that did not arouse suspicion, since the filming of the film No Password Necessary was underway in Vladivostok at that time. At that time, Vladivostok was a closed military town.
On 2 August, 13-year-old pioneer Olga Klushina disappeared in Vladivostok. A week later, her body with her hands tied behind her back, covered with branches, was found in the area of the 25th kilometer, near the railway and military depots. Despite the fact that the corpse was already susceptible to decomposition, forensic experts found a knife wound on the throat and three on the girl's body, as well as traces of rape. During the investigation, Zhestkov stated that he killed her because the girl promised to complain to the police. The midshipman took off the dead Olya's jacket, skirt and woolen blouse. "Well, I'll leave them, they'll be gone anyway," he confessed later in court.
On 23 August, Zhestkov invited 19-year-old Nina Burygina, who came from Nakhodka to enroll in DVSU (university), to the shooting. He took her back to the area of the 25th kilometer, raped her and, after she promised to inform the police, killed her with five stone blows to the head. He took the victim's blouse and notebook.
On 30 August, 19-year-old Lyubov Strusova, an employee of the railway hospital, became a victim of the maniac. He told her about the movie again, took her into the woods. After the rape, the girl said she would contact the police. Zhestkov tied her hands and strangled her with twine. On September 6, the maniac first raped 22-year-old Valentina Pasko, who worked as a tram driver in Vladivostok, and then, according to him, without knowing why, he gouged out the already dead girl's eyes with a nail file. However, the investigators found an explanation for this act: three of Zhestkov's relatives – an older brother, sister and uncle – were in the colonies, and surely from their stories he remembered the convict's belief that the image of the murderer remains in the eyes of a strangled person. On 7 September, Zhestkov raped the victim, but did not kill her because she did not threaten to go to the police. And she fulfilled her promise. When Zhestkov was detained, police officers quickly found the victim, and she became another applicant.
On 9 September, the "director" Zhestkov lured citizen B. into the forest (even at the trial, the data of the last two girls were not disclosed, since they remained alive). He threatened her with a knife, raped her three times, and after she promised not to report to the police, he gave her the knife and offered to become his mistress! The terrified girl did not dare to continue such a strange relationship, but did not immediately contact the police.There was another episode in the case. Only a miracle saved one of the victims from rape and death. The girl's name was Natalia, and Zhestkov called her to "star" in a movie on the day Nina Burygina was killed. Natasha agreed, but asked to wait and ran to consult her friend. She approved the decision: of course, go! But when the girl returned, the "director" was no longer thereHe went to the cafeteria to eat. Later, in Natasha's diary, investigators found an entry for August 23, 1968: "And I was very flattered by this director's offer!" On October 18, midshipman Zhestkov, sensing that they were already on his trail, left for Tomsk. However, it did not work out to hide for a long time. Exactly one month later, on November 18, operatives detained him there. The military prosecutor's office has collected a reliable and serious evidence base: witness statements, examinations, murder weapons, victims' belongings seized from Zhestkov. The maniac had no chance to get away. However, he didn't really want to. During the investigative experiments, the midshipman willingly showed how, in what sequence and what exactly he did with the victims. In the courtroom, the trial was closed. The relatives of the victims, hearing the chilling details from the mouth of the killer, screamed, sobbed and fainted. Investigators noticed that the maniac Zhestkov combined the features of a sexual pervert and a cynical little thief. Always, starting with the first murdered girl, he took not only money, but also his victim's belongings: clothes, watches, jewelry. He kept something for himself, sold some of it, and gave the rest to his roommate. However, as it turned out, he began to steal even earlier: he stole things from his colleagues. Eight facts were revealed – the midshipman robbed seven comrades in the amount of almost 500 rubles. And in Soviet times it was serious money. Having uttered the last word, Zhestkov burst into tears, realizing that one cannot expect leniency from the naval tribunal. But he still asked the judges to spare his life. The military court of the Pacific Fleet sentenced Ilya Zhestkov to death. The Supreme Court upheld the verdict, and in the early 1970s, the murderous midshipman was shot.
Victims[]
Murder victims[]
| Name | Age | Date of Death | Cause of Death |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Lichenko | 28 | 19 May 1968 | Stabbing |
| Olga Klushina | 13 | 2 August 1968 | Stabbing |
| Nina Burygina | 19 | 23 August 1968 | Bludgeoning |
| Lyubov Strusova | 19 | 30 August 1968 | Strangulation |
| Valentina Pasko | 22 | 6 September 1968 | Stabbing |
Attacked victims[]
| Name | Age | Date of Attack |
|---|---|---|
| Unnamed woman | 7 September 1968 | |
| Unnamed woman | 9 September 1968 |
Timeline[]
Bibliography[]
Literature[]
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Television[]
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In popular culture[]
Film adaptation[]
Related Articles[]
https://vladnews.ru/ev/vl/3346/33294/delo_michmana
https://www.dv.kp.ru/daily/27566/4890656/
See also[]
Links[]
- Ilya Zhestkov at Wikipedia
Notes[]
References[]