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Russian pensioner 'may have killed and chopped up 13 people in 20 years'

Tamara Samsonova, 68, from St Petersburg, is being investigated by police after a dismembered body was found near a pond

Hardeep Matharu
Saturday 01 August 2015 00:29 BST
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Tamara Samsonova reportedly logged her crimes in a diary
Tamara Samsonova reportedly logged her crimes in a diary

A Russian pensioner is reportedly being investigated for 13 murders over the last 20 years in which victims were beheaded and dismembered.

Tamara Samsonova, 68, from St Petersburg, was arrested and detained on Tuesday.

Police suspect her of killing a 79-year-old acquaintance, whose body she is believed to have chopped up and left near a pond, the Moscow Times reports.

The newspaper said a Russian news site, Fontanka.ru, released an image of what it said was CCTV footage showing her moving the woman’s body in a black plastic bag last Thursday.

A torso with one leg and one arm was discovered near a pond three days later.

After detaining her, the newspaper said police found evidence of the recent crime in her apartment and a diary containing accounts of several murders she had apparently committed.

Fontanka.ru has reported that she is now being investigated for 13 additional murders.

Police are comparing her diary entries to known unsolved murder where victims were dismembered and body parts left in bags around the city.

The newspaper said Ms Samsonova was the carer of the 79-year-old whose body was found.

A headless, armless and legless man's body was found on the same street 12 years ago, the newspaper said.

Police said she is also incriminated in the murder of her tenant, who was renting a room in her apartment in 2003.

The Daily Mail reports that another suspected victim was her husband, who she reported missing in 2005. He was never found.

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