One of the first officially recognized serial killers in the USSR was Vladimir Ionisyan (Mosgaz). His crimes received a large public outcry, and the trial of Ioncian was highly covered in the central Soviet newspapers:
“Recently, a number of serious crimes have been committed in Moscow and Ivanov. In Moscow, two school -age boys and a woman were killed, a boy and a woman were killed in Ivanovo and a girl was raped with serious bodily harm. As a result of the measures taken by the public order protection authorities, the criminal is found and arrested. It turned out to be Ionius Vladimir Mikhailovich, born in 1937, previously convicted of evasion of military duty and sentenced to 2.5 years in prison … In the first interrogation, Ionisyan admitted in the crimes committed by him. The investigation continues, and soon the offender will appear before the court … “
Pravda, January 14, 1964.
“.. a completely sane young man, with cunning and impudent eyes. A folding speaker, remembering everything. He cynically confesses to one murder, a friend, the third fourth … True, he clearly becomes uneasy for him when he is asked to tell the details of each crime. Then he begins to get nervous-and this is natural, no matter how much a cold-blooded bastard is, and he does not want to be detailed in the story about how he killed a 10-year-old boy who tried to hide from him in the restroom. And, by the way, this nervousness in the face of terrible details only confirms his mental normality. And yet he, of course, is a complete deviation from the norm. Let’s try to figure out what kind of person he is, this beast. Where did he come from among us? In his childhood, there is nothing reprehensible as if there is no. Except for the eternal parental conviction that they have a growing child who has a special fate to grow. The boy has a voice cut through. He is taught singing. He becomes an artist. In the east they say: a light road ends with a mountain. The first such mountain was the need to fulfill the sacred duty for Ionius – to serve in the army. He could not come to terms with the fact that his artist! – They drive to the “Soldier”, and he commits a crime to dodge military service. He is judged for this. The second, even more difficult mountain for him was ordinary life and work in the Orenburg Theater of Musical Comedy. He was convinced that his talent was not appreciated, everyone threatened to go to the opera scene, where he was persistently called. And here is another family, the need to obey moral laws and obligations, to educate a child. He did not want to defeat this “mountain”. He decided to get around her, and then the worthy friend of his new life and the accomplice of his future crimes Alevtin Dmitriev turned up … And now she dangles with ionesyan in cities where he committed his terrible murders … “Well, this is the most,” she says to the consequence of a dull voice,-the birthday ended, and Volodya, this was the most, went to receive money for his secret work. Yes, he committed murders on the bare calculation only in the name of the money that he needed to “live beautifully” with this girl. And the more the livelihood turned out, the better he had the mood … “
Izvestia, January 16, 1964.
“… the court found that Ionesyan in December 1963 and January 1964 committed a number of especially dangerous crimes in the cities of Ivanovo and Moscow. Pinning by deceiving citizens in the apartments, he killed three school -age children, two women, and also rape and attempted murder of a fifteen -year -old girl with particular cruelty. Dmitrieva A.N. She knew about the criminal activity of Ioncia and helped him hide traces of crimes. The Supreme Court of the RSFSR sentenced Ionesyan V.M. To the death penalty – execution. Dmitrieva A.N. Convicted to fifteen years in prison. The Presidium of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR rejected the petition of Ionzan for pardon. The verdict is carried out “
Komsomolskaya Pravda, February 2, 1964.
“ВЧК ОГПУ”
