Leonid Karnov

Leonid Vladimirovich Karnov (, known as The Petersburg Othello , is a Russian serial killer who killed five people, including a pregnant woman, during robberies in Saint Petersburg from 2005 and 2008. For his crimes, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Biography Little is known about Karnov's life. A native of Saint Petersburg born in 1976, Karnov showed an affinity for cycling at an early age and demonstrated athletic prowess during his school years, so much so that he was considered as a candidate for a "Sportsmaster" award. However, this fell through he started drinking heavily, eventually leading to multiple convictions for theft during the 1990s. He was released in 2000, was unable to find a job and made a living through stealing and reselling bicycles.

On October 28, 2005, while riding on a train on the Saint Petersburg-Lyuban line, Karnov stabbed another passenger with a knife under unclear circumstances. The victim subsequently died from blood loss, but his killer went unapprehended. For the next three years, Karnov is not known to have committed any violent crimes until March 2008. At that time, he was drinking at the Serafimovskoe Cemetery, where he had originally gone to clean the gravestones of his family members, when he was approached by another homeless man. The pair drank together until a quarrel arose between them, during which Karnov strangled the man with his own T-shirt before stealing his bike and mobile phone.

In 2010, Karnov was linked to the 2005 cold case by Saint Petersburg authorities, and was subsequently charged with murder. Karnov was convicted for it in December 2010, and was given another life term. He later attempted to appeal the second sentence to the Supreme Court, but his appeal was rejected.