The Volga Maniac (Update)

Russian authorities have taken 38-year-old Radik Tagirov into custody, and he has reportedly confessed to more than two dozen murders...

In the early months of 2011, a mysterious Russian serial killer would emerge in the region around Kazan, one of the most populous cities in the region (about 800 kilometers east of Moscow). Over the next several months, this sadistic individual would prey upon elderly women between 75 and 90 years old: widowed pensioners that typically lived alone in affordable, mid-sized apartment buildings. Throughout 2012, this individual would begin branching out into the vast area surrounding Kazan - striking as far as 600 kilometers away - and more than two dozen victims would be attributed to this unidentified killer's spree, which lasted just a little over 18 months.

One of the more peculiar notes in this case is that there was video footage of the suspect, stalking one of these victims and then waiting outside of her apartment (likely just moments before killing her). Unlike obscure footage from other unsolved cases, this footage was rather-clear; giving investigators - and the public - a look at this rather-young and unassuming killer.

I originally covered this story back in May of this year (2020), with the case having gone cold years earlier. At the time, there had been no confirmed sighting of the Volga Maniac in almost a decade, with only rumors persisting that the offender had been sighted in regions far away from his original hunting grounds near the Volga River (hence, him being attributed this fearsome nickname). But now, it appears that police have a suspect in-custody... and authorities claim that he's already confessed.

On December 1st, 2020 - just earlier today, for many of us - the Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Tatarstan announced the arrest of 38-year-old Radik Tagirov, whose DNA was a match for DNA evidence left behind at the crime scenes.

Unfortunately, not much is currently known about the suspect, other than him being a general match for the profile developed by authorities over the years. We do know that in 2005, Tagirov was convicted for illegal arms trafficking, and he followed this up with a conviction in 2009 for theft (for which he was released from custody in 2010). Tagirov was also a resident of Kazan, the city where the majority of the crimes attributed to the Volga Maniac were carried out; where he found work as a mechanic. And because he is 38 years old now, that would put Tagirov in the age range described by multiple witnesses to the Volga Maniac crime spree (which proposed that the killer was young, in his mid-to-late twenties back in 2011 and 2012).

According to statements made by authorities, Tagirov was initially connected to the crime scenes through DNA testing (which had successfully eliminated potential matches over the years). It's now known that the killer had left behind traces of sweat on a scarf and a lighter at two crime scenes outside of Kazan, which is how police were able to connect these crimes to the Volga Maniac. Using these samples, police were able to narrow in on Tagirov himself; and they were able to cement their findings through shoeprint analysis, which helped confirm that he was their guy. If you recall from my prior episode about the Volga Maniac, I told you that police were trying to track down a specific type of shoe worn by the killer. It seems like that might have helped narrow in on the killer.

It's unknown why it took so long for authorities to compare the samples left behind by the Volga Maniac to Tagirov - a convicted criminal - but following this DNA confirmation, Tagirov was taken into custody in Kazan. Afterward, the 38-year-old Radik Tagirov reportedly confessed through tears to at least 25 of the murders. However, from the early reports, it seems like Tagirov does not even remember how many victims he killed - so a true accounting may not be immediately known - but he claims that he killed and robbed the victims out of necessity, having been homeless (or close to it) at the time of the murders. When asked about why he couldn't just rob the victims and leave them alive, he explained:

"... for some reason I didn't do that. I can't explain."

While we still have much to learn about this case, it seems like - for the moment, at least - the story of the Volga Maniac might have been resolved.

Episode Information

Episode Information

Writing, research, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan

Published on on December 1st, 2020

Producers: Roberta Janson, Ben Krokum, Gabriella Bromley, Quil Carter, Laura Hannan, Damion Moore, Amy Hampton, Scott Meesey, Steven Wilson, Travis Scsepko, Scott Patzold, Marie Vanglund, Astrid Kneier, Aimee McGregor, Bryan Hall, Sydney Scotton, Sara Moscaritolo, Sue Kirk, Thomas Ahearn, Marion Welsh, Seth Morgan, Jo Wong, Alyssa Lawton, Patrick Laakso, Kevin McCracken, Meadow Landry, Tatum Bautista, Michele Watson, Teunia Elzinga, Ryan Green, Dawn Kellar, Stephanie Joyner, gravityheadzero, Elissa Hampton-Dutro, Ruth Durbin, Sally Ranford, and Sharon Manetta

Music Credits

Original music created by Micheal Whelan through Amper Music

Other music created and composed by Ailsa Traves

Sources and further reading

https://realnoevremya.ru/news/195777-istochnik-segodnya-nochyu-v-kazani-zaderzhali-povolzhskogo-dushitelya-babushek

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/12/01/russia-detains-suspect-in-killings-of-26-elderly-women-a72203

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/01/radik-tagirov-suspected-of-killing-25-women-caught-russian-volga-maniac

https://www.barrons.com/news/russia-arrests-suspect-in-killings-of-26-elderly-women-01606832404?tesla=y

https://newsbeezer.com/ukraineeng/a-suspect-in-the-murder-of-dozens-of-people-was-arrested-in-russia/

https://www.vzsar.ru/news/2020/12/01/zaderjan-seriynyy-manyak-sredi-ego-26-jertv-est-jitelnicy-saratova.html

https://www.mk.ru/video/2020/12/01/manyak-radik-tagirov-na-video-obyasnil-ubiystva-32-zhenshhin.html

https://ria.ru/20201201/manyak-1587174811.html

https://old.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/k4jz03/the_volga_maniac_has_been_captured/