Andrei Maslich

Case identification

Andrei Maslich

Status / legal outcome

Andrei Maslich was sentenced to death in 1995 and 1996 and remained a death row inmate in Siberia.

Timeline

• 1995 — Maslich received his first death penalty after he and another inmate strangled, cooked and ate a fellow prisoner.
• May — Maslich was on death row in the city of Barnaul when he strangled his cellmate, cut out his liver, and tried to boil it in a metal mug over a makeshift fire.
• 26 December 1996 — Maslich received a second death sentence after strangling his new cell mate following an argument and boiling his liver in a metal mug on a makeshift fire.
• December 27, 1996 — Reports stated that a Siberian prison convict had been given the death sentence for the second time for killing and trying to eat a cellmate.

Background

Andrei Maslich was a death row inmate in Siberia. He was described as having received two death sentences for strangling and cooking his cell mates in prison. He was also described as a four-time convicted murderer.

Maslich received his first death penalty in 1995 after he and another inmate strangled, cooked and ate a prisoner because they were bored. Maslich later received a death sentence again on December 26, 1996 for strangling his new cell mate after an argument and boiling his liver in a metal mug on a makeshift fire.

The offence

First incident (1995)

Maslich and another inmate strangled, cooked and ate a fellow prisoner. They told authorities they were bored and wanted to visit Moscow, where they thought they would be sent for psychiatric examinations.

Second incident (May; sentence on 26 December 1996)

On death row in the city of Barnaul last May, Maslich strangled his cellmate, cut out his liver and tried to boil it in a metal mug over a makeshift fire, according to Interfax.

Maslich was described as offering no other explanation than not wanting to share his cell. The next morning, part of the shrunken organ was found in the mug.

The crime was described as involving Maslich boiling his cell mate’s liver in a metal mug on a makeshift fire made from his bedding. The next morning the organ was found in the mug.

Maslich told the Altai regional court he cooked his cell mate in hopes of being declared insane and escaping execution for his first act of cannibalism. The court was told that hunger was not the cause of the crime.

Investigation / prison discovery details

The crime was described as not being discovered until the next morning. A warder looked through the spy hole and Maslich nodded to his lifeless cellmate: "He will not be getting up today."

The prison director assured the court that the food provided was good and plentiful: "Hunger was not the cause of this crime."

In the court room, standing in the defendant's cage, Maslich admitted to drinking up his homemade stew.

Trial

Maslich appeared before the Altai regional court. He provided the explanation that he cooked his cellmate in hopes of being declared insane and escaping execution for his first act of cannibalism.

Sentencing / disposition

Maslich was initially sentenced to death in 1995 after he and another inmate strangled, cooked and ate a fellow prisoner.

Maslich received a second death sentence on December 26, 1996 after strangling his new cell mate following an argument and boiling the liver in a metal mug on a makeshift fire.

Other details

Interfax was cited for the report that Maslich had been given the death sentence for the second time for killing and trying to eat a cellmate.

Maslich was identified as 24 years old in the report.

The prison director stated: "Hunger was not the cause of this crime."

Maslich stated: "He will not be getting up today."

The report included the line: "Cannibal' Gets Death The Moscow Times December 27, 1996" with location given as "BARNAUL, Western Siberia".