Andrei Barausov

Andrei Ivanovich Barausov (; born 5 August 1961), known as The Lensky Maniac , is a Soviet-Russian serial killer and rapist who murdered at least 7 underage girls in Sakha from 1983 to 1997. Most of these killings remained unsolved until early January 2023, when Barausov, now serving a sentence for serial rape, confessed to them.

For his latest crimes, he was sentenced to 21 years imprisonment to be served concurrently with his 2018 conviction, consisting of 18 years.

Biography Little is known about Barausov's early life. Born on 5 August 1961, in the Yakut ASSR, he spent his childhood and youth in the city of Lensk, graduating from a local high school as a professional driver. From 1978 to 1980, he served in the Soviet Army, and after his demobilization, he returned to Lensk, where he married a local girl and had a daughter with her in 1981. A few years later, the couple had a son.

From the mid-1980s to 1997, Barausov worked as a driver for the Udachny Mining and Processing Combine, where he was well-regarded by employers and co-workers. He was not known to drink alcohol, and was noted for acting very politely towards women. Unbeknownst to many at the time, Barausov sexually abused his daughter, but no charges were ever brought in this case since she has refused to testify against him.

Crimes In early 1997, Barausov's wife died of complications from cancer, after which he was left to live in an apartment with his two children. In early August, he went to the woods in Lensk at the height of the mushroom season, where he met two girls (aged 9 and 12, respectively) who were picking mushrooms. Brandishing a small-calibre TOZ-16 rifle, Barausov threatened them at gunpoint before eventually shooting one of the girls and stabbing the other to death. He then had sex with their corpses, and after he was finished, he covered up the bodies with leaves and moss. Each member gave a description of the good Samaritan that had helped them out, and after a sketch was drawn of the man, he became the prime suspect in the murders.

At around this time, a young woman went to the police department in Lensk, alleging that she had been raped at a park by an unfamiliar man.

However, as no additional remains were found at the time and he retracted these confessions, Barausov was only charged with the double murder.

His next known murder was committed on 3 August 1991 - Barausov was driving by Oyunsky Street in Lensk when he saw two little girls, 4-year-old Marina V. and 5-year-old Katya G., standing on the road. He buried the girls' remains in shallow graves, which remained undiscovered until his confession. As part of his plea deal, he was spared life imprisonment and instead sentenced to 21 years imprisonment which, due to his age, is believed to be long enough for him to die in prison. Following the announcement of the verdict, Barausov retracted his confessions and declared that he had been pressured into confessing by investigators.