Roman Kobyzev

Roman Valeryevich Kobyzev (; born 16 June 1970) is a Russian serial killer who committed four murders in Stavropol and Krasnodar Krai from 1996 to 1997, and a double murder in 2014. After evading arrest for two decades, he was finally apprehended after his final murder, tried, convicted, and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Early life Roman Kobyzev was born on 16 June 1970, in Mineralnye Vody, Stavropol Krai. Early on in childhood, he began to exhibit aggressive behaviour towards others, and later earned a reputation as a bully in school. He would frequently get into fights and was constantly at odds with school administration, with educators often having to discipline him for absenteeism and poor academic performance.

After graduating, Kobyzev began to abuse alcohol and started committing crimes. In the late 1980s, he was convicted of assault during a robbery, serving a sentence until the early 1990s. Upon his release, he married a woman named Elvira and had two children with her - despite this, he continued to commit crimes such as stealing and avoided gaining legitimate employment.

Three days later, Kobyzev was visiting Krasnodar together with a friend named Rasul when they came across 28-year-old Anatoly Sidorenko, a stranger, to whom they offered to drink alcohol. While drinking vodka, Kobyzev and Sidorenko had an argument, during which Kobyzev hit the victim on the head with a stone and killed him. Afterwards, he and Rasul fled the city. In the afternoon of 25 May, Kobyzev had another argument with them over a small disagreement, during which he stabbed Svetlana three times in the chest and neck, killing her on the spot, while Marina was stabbed once in the stomach. His testimony was confirmed by his accomplice Rasul, who was found soon after for interrogation. Upon hearing of his arrest, relatives of Kobyzev's victims accused the local police of negligence, which later prompted a press release from the local police department in which investigators partly admitted guilt for not linking the murders at the time. However, it also stated that this was also the result of the unstable economy and societal situation in the country at the time, as well as the lack of modern technology such as DNA.

On 22 October 2015, Kobyzev was convicted on all counts and sentenced to life imprisonment. During the investigation, it was established that his accomplice Rasul was never physically involved in the murders, and since the statute of limitations had passed on all charges that could be pressed against him, he was subsequently released.