Artur Kitaev

Artur Kimovich Kitayev (; 1962 – 29 September 2019) was a Soviet–Russian serial killer who killed six women and girls in Smolensk Oblast between 1990 and July 1992. Dubbed the "last sex maniac of the USSR", he was sentenced to death on 24 February 1994, but his sentence would later be commuted to life imprisonment following the moratorium introduced in the country. In 2019, Kitayev was murdered by his prison cellmate, Dustmurod Ilyosov.

Biography Little is known about Kitayev's early life. It is known that he was born in 1962 in Krasnokamsk, Perm Krai and had a younger brother named Konstantin. Since his childhood, Kitayev was distinguished as an intelligent and talkative individual, thanks to which he had many friends and acquaintances, but at the same time, these exact people noticed that when drunk, Kitayev showed signs of an antisocial, aggressive personality. In the early 1980s, he was jailed for causing physical harm but was released in the mid-1980s and returned home, where he resumed his criminal lifestyle by committing thefts with his younger brother. After his second arrest, Kitayev was convicted and sentenced to 9 years imprisonment, which he served in a corrective labour colony. After serving a part of his sentence, he was transported to a colony with a more relaxed regime. On 10 August 1990, he escaped and managed to get to Perm where his parents lived. Later on, he moved into a friend's house, where he lived for the next several months. In December 1990, he moved to Smolensk, and once there, he went to the police station claiming that he had been robbed. He presented his father's military ID, as he lived under a different surname, and was thusly given a new passport. Soon after, Kitayev found housing in the Kardymovsky District and found a job as a driver for the autoservice "Kamensky" at the local sovkhoz. Kitayev was viewed as a benevolent, model citizen by his fellow countrymen and colleagues, who were unaware of his previous criminal convictions. In his free time, he was involved in organizing disco parties for a rural club, choosing the musical repertoire and composing poetry. In addition, he was popular with women, none of whom reported that he had ever been violent to them.

Murders

Working as a driver, Kitayev had at his full disposal a company-issued car, a ZIL-133, with which he travelled across the region and extensively studied the rural areas. When committing murders, he chose his victims as young female hitchhikers whom he lured into his car and then drove to the woodlands, where he proceeded to beat, rape and perform various sexual acts on the women. After having his way, Kitayev would then strangle the victim to death.

Arrest and trial In July 1992, Kitayev attacked his last victim in the village of Tvortsy. Because the 40-year-old woman was menstruating, she offered to instead give her assailant a blowjob, to which he agreed. While performing oral sex on him, the woman bit Kitayev's penis, incapacitating him and managing to escape. She went to the police, where, after receiving a description of the attacker, formed police squads to stake out roads, bus stops, railway stations and other public places. After some time, Kitayev was detained at the railway station. While checking his documents, the authorities tracked down the victim, who then identified him from a police lineup. To confirm her testimony, the woman demanded that Kitayev's pants and underwear be removed. After discovering that he had bite marks on his genitals, Kitayev was officially arrested and charged. In February 1994, he was sentenced to death, but the sentence would later be commuted to life imprisonment due to the moratorium imposed on the death penalty in Russia.

Death In July 2019, Kitayev was placed in a two-man cell, with his cohabitant being 29-year-old Tajikistani citizen Dustmurod Ilyosov, who was serving a life sentence for killing four people and attempting to kill a fifth in the village of Demyansk in 2013. Due to their conflicting personalities, Kitayev and Ilyosov frequently quarrelled over the next two months. On 13 September 2019, the pair began arguing again, during which Kitayev used obscene language to describe his dissatisfaction with his cellmate's constant pacing around the cell. In response, Ilyosov attacked Artur, kicking and punching him in the vital organs a total of 33 times. Kitayev was rushed to the hospital for treatment, but complications to his injuries worsened his condition dramatically, as a result of which he died on 29 September. On 5 March 2020, the Torbeevsky District Court found Ilyosov guilty of killing Kitayev and gave him an additional 14 years imprisonment on top of his life sentence. At the court hearings, Dustmurod stated that during the 63 days they lived together, Kitayev constantly criticized him for everything and reproached him, instigating arguments whenever he could. Kitayev's younger brother, Konstantin, was also a part of the case, but wasn't physically present during the trial, providing only written testimony via the investigators. In the testimony, Konstantin stated that after his brother's arrest and subsequent conviction, he ceased any and all contact with him.