Andrey Yezhov

Andrey Sergeyеvich Yezhov (; 16 August 1967 – 6 July 2020), known as The Kashirsky Maniac , was a Russian serial killer and rapist who was forensically linked to at least nine sexually motivated attacks against young girls and women in Moscow's Kashirsky and Stupinsky districts from 2010 to 2020, seven of which were fatal. He was arrested and later admitted to the respective crimes, but hanged himself in the detention center before he could be charged.

Early life Andrey Sergeyevich Yezhov was born in 1967 in the village of Sloboda, Smolensk Oblast, the younger of two sons born to a milkmaid and a tractor driver. While little is known of his childhood, neighbors described the Yezhovs as caring parents who never subjected their children to violence. When he became a teenager, unbeknownst to anyone in his family, Yezhov began spying on women who bathed in the village's bath house, a practice which he continued into adulthood. Around the same time, he had his first sexual encounter when he had sex with a dead cow - the pleasure provided by this act prompted him to start abusing other animals on the family farm. The victim's body was discovered a few days later by a social worker.

Investigation, arrest and suicide Soon after the discovery of the latest victim's body, the Moscow City Police decided to check the surveillance cameras for any possible clues. While browsing through the footage, they came across a peculiar scene showing an unidentified male in a denim suit disposing of a pile of documents in a pile of grass, not far from the crime scene. They went to investigate the scene, and after examining them, authorities determined that they belonged to the elderly woman.

In the ensuing investigation, DNA samples were collected from a variety of men living in the area, including Yezhov. These samples were examined by two investigative committees, which positively linked his DNA to three of the murders and the rape of the 10-year-old girl. The case was extensively covered in the Muscovite press at the time, which heavily emphasized on the fact of how a seemingly "normal"-looking man was able to commit such heinous acts, or compared him to other infamous murderers like Andrei Chikatilo, Vladimir Ionesyan and Anushervon Rakhmanov. Even before his suicide, both law enforcement and psychiatrist Alexandr Bukhanovsky, who created the psychological profile of Andrei Chikatilo, stated their belief that Yezhov likely had more victims between his "gaps", possibly dating back to the 1990s.