Olesya Mostovschikova

Background

Olesya Mostovschikova was a 27-year-old woman who was arrested in Russia after a female victim was killed, cut into pieces, and some body parts were eaten. The killing and cooking took place in front of her seven-year-old son.

The offence

Olesya Mostovschikova told police that during a drinking session she quarrelled with a friend at her house in Irkutsk, then grabbed an axe and murdered her. Police investigator Oleg Lobach said:

'The suspect hit the victim numerous times on her head and body. When the victim died, the suspect cut her body into pieces and even ate some body parts,' said police investigator Oleg Lobach.

In her testimony to police, Mostovschikova calmly confessed:

'I took the axe and hit her a number of times on her head. 'Then I cut off her ears, gauged out one eye, cut off an arm, and a hand. I took the hand, arm and eye and cooked these body parts in the oven.'

Police said the women cut sliced flesh from the victim's buttock, breast and a cheek. Mostovschikova hid 32-year-old Tatiana Romanchuk’s body in the cellar of her Siberian home.

A day later, Mostovschikova sliced up the victim's body again, putting her legs in a rubbish skip close to her detached house, and burying other remains in her garden.

A seven-year-old boy witnessed both the murder and the cooking, said police.

Investigation

Police said Julia was being interviewed as a witness not a suspect.

Police described how locals made the discovery:

'Locals called the police saying they saw human legs in the rubbish bin,' said senior criminal investigator Vadim Shestakov. 'We sent officers to the scene and they confirmed it. 'We immediately checked the nearest streets, calling at 50 houses in the neighbourhood. 'In Mostovschikova's house we found marks on the floor that looked like blood. Soon we found parts of the body in her garden.'

Arrest

Mostovschikova was under arrest after confessing to the murder.

Sentencing

Mostovschikova faced up to 15 years in prison for the murder, police said.

Other details

Mostovschikova described that she went down to the cellar again because Julia said that she was hungry and wanted to eat some more:

'Some time later, I went down to the cellar again because Julia said that she was hungry and wanted to eat some more. 'We sliced off some more meat and took it upstairs to the kitchen We fried it on the cooker and ate it.'

Julia told officers that she felt compelled to ask for the meat because Mostovschikova had threatened to kill and eat her too.

Her son had been taken to a children's rehabilitation centre.

Police said it was the third cannibal case involving female victims in Russia in the last six months. In January, 16-year-old schoolgirl Karina Barduchyan was killed and cannibalised by a 21-year-old butcher and his florist friend in St Petersburg. Last September in Yaroslavl, Satanists killed and ate Olga Pukhova, 15, and Anna Gerokhova, 16, after a ritualistic killing.