Vladislav Volkovich

Case overview

The Nighttime Killers (Ночной Серийник) were responsible for a string of brutal murders in Kiev, Ukraine between 1991 and 1996. Two men, Vladislav Volkovich (Владислав Волкович) and Vladimir Kondratenko (Владимир Кондратенко), were arrested and charged with 16 murders. Most victims were shot with a .22 sporting rifle and stabbed or bludgeoned with a wide variety of weapons ranging from stitching awls to bricks and iron bars.

Kondratenko committed suicide in prison during the trial. Volkovich was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. The killers claimed that they began the murder spree to prepare themselves for an eventual career as contract killers, practicing on the homeless, and continued killing for profit and for fun.

People

• Vladislav Volkovich (Владислав Волкович) — suspect; later sentenced to life in prison.
• Vladimir Kondratenko (Владимир Кондратенко) — suspect; committed suicide in prison during the trial.
• Evgeniy Osechkin — 44-year-old factory worker found dead near a Karavaevy Dachi train station just outside of Kiev.
• Aleksandr Egorov — local doctor shot and killed in his car.
• Aleksandr Shpack — victim found shot and stabbed after a birthday party incident.
• Aleksandr Bykov — victim found dead inside an apartment.
• Petr Gromov — man found shot in his vehicle, a VAZ-2106.
• Vladimir Dmitrievich Kondratenko — identified as the volunteer assistant connected with the Bykov investigation.
• Andrei Timoshin — former Senior Customs Inspector; charged with one of the murders and the subsequent auto theft.
• Sergei Tretyachenko — livery driver; charged with assisting Kondratenko with attempted auto theft in a murder/burglary scheme.
• The unidentified woman — killed by the pair while driving drunk at a high rate of speed in a stolen VAZ-2102; described as their only known female victim.
• The victim aged 35–40 whose death involved shell casings tied to earlier murders — identified as Petr Gromov.
• The September 4 victim — male victim found in the streets shot in the head and the chest with a .22 rifle and stabbed; never identified.

Timeline

• June 18, 1996 — Evgeniy Osechkin was found dead near a Karavaevy Dachi train station just outside of Kiev.
• September 4 — Aleksandr Shpack had already been murdered; on September 4 yet another male victim was found in the streets, shot in the head and the chest with a .22 rifle and stabbed.
• September 28 (about 10:30 PM) — Petr Gromov was found shot in his vehicle, a VAZ-2106.
• After September 28 — Police found an unlocked door and a dead body inside the apartment; the victim was identified as Aleksandr Bykov, whose death was estimated to have occurred on September 23.
• Three days later — A man matching the description approached the building and was lost in a nearby marketplace.
• August 2000 — All three living suspects were found guilty; Volkovich was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Background

The murders occurred in Kiev, Ukraine between 1991 and 1996. The killings involved a pair of serial killers who targeted men in mid-to-late 30s. By the time Volkovich and Kondratenko were detained, five more murders had been tied to the .22 killings, bringing the total of known victims to 11, with additional suspected victims.

The prosecution psychological profile described Kondratenko’s upbringing as involving constant physical abuse by his father, which began when he started school. Kondratenko had been initially a good student, but his perfectionist father severely beat him for any grade below a 5 or Excellent. Kondratenko then reportedly changed: he would get on his knees and beg his teachers not to give lower grades, then stopped and became shy and withdrawn. After graduation, his father forced him to go into an architectural college; Kondratenko dropped out after one semester and, at the age of 18, was drafted into the Red Army. He was reportedly frequently injured, once receiving a serious concussion after falling from a tank, and was constantly abused in the atmosphere of rampant dedovshchina. He was discharged after the compulsory service and reported back home in civilian clothes, which instantly led to a beating from his father for not being in uniform.

Kondratenko was then reportedly afflicted by a severe case of jaundice that left permanent disfiguring marks on his face. He refused to go outside for months, and his parents committed him to a psychiatric institution; after some time he was deemed sane and released. Unable to find a job and staying at home most of the time, the conflict between Kondratenko and his father continued to grow. Kondratenko needed money to move out.

According to the prosecution, Vladislav Volkovich had “an even less interesting background than Kondratenko.” He was reportedly one of a pair of twins and grew up in an uneventful household with no reported instances of abuse or aggression. Growing up in poverty, Volkovich was reportedly preoccupied with appearances and looking for ways to make money, but did not want a full-time job. He made friends with Kondratenko, and the two often discussed ways of making money and various philosophical concepts, eventually deciding that “there is no such thing as morals or honor in this world”.

The offence

Methods and weapons

Most victims were shot with a .22 sporting rifle. Victims were also stabbed or bludgeoned with a wide variety of weapons ranging from stitching awls to bricks and iron bars.

Murder pattern and mechanics

The killings were carried out by a pair targeting car owners and men in mid-to-late 30s. The killers’ practice involved Volkovich hitch-hiking and asking drivers to go to an address to pick up a “friend with a box”. Kondratenko would wait at the address. The box would contain the .22 TOZ-16 sporting rifle. Kondratenko would immediately shoot the driver, and Volkovich would stab him at the same time. The pair had reportedly murdered at least 7 men for cars, most of which they later sold.

The killers had reportedly started by practicing on the homeless. They then transitioned to attacking car owners, viewing vehicle ownership as a sign of wealth in the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s. They reportedly admitted they had little luck killing random car owners because many had little if any money and taking and later selling their cars was difficult. They also admitted enjoying killing itself and continued killing even when it did not bring financial gain.

Victim-specific events

Evgeniy Osechkin (June 18, 1996)

On June 18 1996, Evgeniy Osechkin, a 44-year-old factory worker, was found dead near a Karavaevy Dachi train station just outside of Kiev. An anonymous tipster called police and claimed that someone was just shot with a silenced pistol. Forensics uncovered that the victim was actually shot with a .22 round (a single shell casing was recovered) and stabbed multiple times. The anonymous tipster was never located.

Investigation quickly determined that Osechkin had no enemies, and robbery was ruled out as a motive as Osechkin still had the salary he received the day of the murder on his person. Investigators then looked at other murders in the area and found that months earlier a homeless man had been shot with a .22 rifle and stabbed in the same area, just 100 meters away from the spot where Osechkin was murdered.

Investigators canvassed the area and set up surveillance at the train station. Some people who raised suspicion were arrested but all had alibis for the time of the murders. The investigation stalled until another murder was reported two weeks later.

Aleksandr Egorov

A well-known local doctor named Aleksandr Egorov was shot and killed in his car in broad daylight. Witnesses were located and provided a description of a suspect described as a lone man of about 30 years of age. Less than an hour after Egorov’s murder, another male victim was found several blocks away, again shot with a .22 rifle and stabbed. A description of a man seen loitering in the area matched the suspect in the Egorov and Osechkin murders. Fingerprints were recovered from both scenes, but no match was found in any databases and the description offered few leads.

Aleksandr Shpack

Two weeks later, another murder was reported. The new victim was Aleksandr Shpack. Prior to the murder, he was at a birthday party with his girlfriend. After getting drunk, Shpack got into an argument with two men who crashed the party. All four then left the party. Shpack was found shot and stabbed a short time later.

Shpack’s girlfriend provided a description of the two men that matched the earlier murders. She remembered that one of the men was named Vladimir.

September 4 victim (unidentified)

On September 4, yet another male victim was found in the streets. The victim was shot in the head and the chest with a .22 rifle and stabbed. Shell casings found at the scene tied it with the earlier murders. The victim was never identified and no witnesses came forward.

Petr Gromov (September 28, about 10:30 PM)

On September 28 at about 10:30 PM, male victim Petr Gromov was found shot in his vehicle, a VAZ-2106. He was shot twice in the head and stabbed multiple times. The killers pushed the body out of the car and tried to drive away, but the shots broke a window and punctured the roof. The killers abandoned the vehicle less than a block away, apparently concerned that the damage would draw unwanted attention.

Investigators became convinced they were dealing with a pair of serial killers who targeted men in mid-to-late 30s. Local militsia (police) was instructed to arrest anyone matching the description on sight.

Aleksandr Bykov (found in apartment; death estimated September 23)

After the Gromov murder, canvassing apartments near the Gromov murder scene led police to locate a woman who claimed to recognize one of the suspects as a man named Vladimir who lived nearby. Police put the building she pointed out under surveillance. Surveillance located an unlocked door in the building, and there was a dead body inside the apartment, also shot and stabbed. The victim was identified as Aleksandr Bykov.

His death was estimated to have occurred on September 23. Several unlit matches had been stuck between the door and the frame, and the matches fell out when the door was opened. Investigators surmised the matches were markers left by the killers to determine whether the door had been opened in case they ever returned.

The apartment was placed under constant surveillance. A man matching the description approached the building three days later, but something spooked him and investigators lost the man when he ran into a nearby marketplace.

Final victim before detention: unidentified woman (stolen VAZ-2102)

By the time the information was sent up the chain and the two men were ordered detained, the pair claimed one final victim: an unidentified woman they struck and killed while driving drunk at a high rate of speed in a stolen VAZ-2102. The car had been stolen in preparation for a burglary of a commercial warehouse, where they planned to murder the lone guard.

Investigation

Investigators initially faced a tip related to Osechkin, but forensics showed a .22 round rather than the silenced pistol described by the anonymous tipster. The Osechkin case was linked to earlier killings in the same area within 100 meters. Surveillance was set up at the train station.

Later murders were linked by descriptions matching across incidents and fingerprints recovered from both scenes, but without database matches. The investigation stalled and then restarted after another murder report.

By the time of the Gromov murder, local militsia were instructed to arrest anyone matching the description on sight. Investigators identified a building via a woman who recognized one suspect. Surveillance and the discovery of Aleksandr Bykov inside the apartment continued, including the finding of matches used as markers.

Arrest and detention

Continued surveillance on the building near the Bykov and Gromov murders led to sightings of a man matching the description, but he was lost after running into a nearby marketplace.

By that point, crime scene photographs from the Bykov crime scene contained the images of a person matching a suspect’s description. The man volunteered to assist the police in searching for clues and gave his name; he was identified as Vladimir Dmitrievich Kondratenko. Investigators did not have his address. Continued surveillance on a Sotzialistichna Street block where the Bykov and Gromov murders took place located Kondratenko loitering with another man matching a suspect’s description. The second man was later identified as Vladislav Volkovich.

When ordered detained, the pair claimed the final victim while describing their last killings and preparations.

Confessions and co-conspirators

Once detained, the men quickly confessed to over 20 murders, as well as numerous robberies, carjackings, and burglaries. Two more co-conspirators were identified for trial: Andrei Timoshin and Sergei Tretyachenko.

At trial, Volkovich and Kondratenko had confessed to over 20 murders, but many earlier victims who had been homeless were never located. The two men were charged with only 16 murders.

Trial

The case went to trial. Two additional suspects were charged:

• Andrei Timoshin, a former Senior Customs Inspector, was charged with one of the murders and the subsequent auto theft.
• Sergei Tretyachenko, a livery driver, was charged with assisting Kondratenko with attempted auto theft in a murder/burglary scheme cut short by arrest.

Days after the trial began, Kondratenko overdosed on prescription medication and died while in police custody. His death was ruled a suicide.

After Kondratenko’s death, Volkovich attempted to change his testimony to paint Kondratenko as the only trigger man in all of the murders. Timoshin also changed his testimony, claiming he was unaware that the other men planned to kill their victim and simply went along to rob a taxi driver.

Kondratenko had earlier stated that Timoshin had offered them a price to kill that particular victim, who was apparently in conflict with the inspector.

After a lengthy trial, all three living suspects were found guilty in August 2000. The death penalty had been abolished in Ukraine, so Volkovich received the sentence of life imprisonment.

Verbatim statements at trial

Volkovich stated:

“they were nothing to me, not people, just items in a list”

He then added:

“They made me feel like a superman”

He said:

Sentencing

In August 2000, Volkovich received a sentence of life imprisonment. The death penalty had been abolished in Ukraine.

Appeals

No appeal details were provided.

Outcome

Kondratenko died by suicide in prison during the trial. Volkovich was found guilty and was sentenced to life in prison in August 2000. Timoshin and Tretyachenko were found guilty alongside Volkovich, as all three living suspects were found guilty in August 2000.

Other details

Reasons behind Kondratenko’s assistance in the Bykov investigation

The reasons behind Kondratenko’s assistance in the Bykov investigation were uncovered. Kondratenko had been friends with Bykov for years and also had an affair with Bykov’s wife. Bykov reportedly owned a pistol that Kondratenko wanted. After the murder, Kondratenko reportedly continued to see Bykov’s wife and drove her to the morgue and appointments with investigators, ostensibly helping her look for her husband’s killer, to continue their affair.

“Contract killer” motivation and practice

The killers discussed becoming contract killers and killing some of their friends for immediate financial gain. They did not know how to look for contract work and were unsure they could kill a friend on the first try, so they reportedly decided to practice on the homeless. They reportedly killed at least five before risking an attack on a more dangerous target.

Philosophy and motivation statements

The killers reportedly discussed various philosophical concepts, eventually deciding that:

“there is no such thing as morals or honor in this world”

At trial, Volkovich described his victims as non-person “items in a list” and said killing made him feel like “a superman”.

Transportation and burglary preparation

Before detention, the pair stole a VAZ-2102 in preparation for burglary of a commercial warehouse, where they planned to murder the lone guard.