Valery Kopytov

Valery Kopytov (; born 1971), nicknamed the Barnaul Chikatilo , is a Russian serial killer who murdered 19 homeless people in Altai Krai between 2000 and 2004.

Early life In 1998, 27-year-old Kopytov was released from prison after serving a sentence for mercenary crimes. After his release, he moved in with his father in Barnaul and failed to find friends or employment. Dissatisfied with his life, he left home and built a dugout beneath the New Bridge beside the Ob River.

Crimes

In 2004 or 2005, investigators discovered 13 corpses buried in the vicinity of the New Bridge. Later, they were led to Valery Kopytov, after a friend reported him to the police after he told him of his crimes.

Kopytov told investigators that most of the victims were fellow homeless people with whom he got into quarrels, while some others he killed to steal their belongings. Due to his cooperation with law enforcement, he avoided a life sentence, instead receiving 25 years in prison⁠10 to be spent in prison and 15 in a special regime colony.