Vladimir Belov

Vladimir Borisovich Belov (; born 7 January 1972), known as the Khovrinsky Maniac , is a Soviet-Russian brigand and serial killer, who received his nickname because he committed most of his crimes in the Khovrino District.

Biography Belov was born in 1972 in Moscow. He received his first term for theft. Freed in 1991, he soon committed a robbery, which ended in murder. On 4 February 1993, Belov was sentenced to 15 years in the Ulyanovsk prison. There he met his future accomplice, Sergei Aleksandrovich Shabanov (b. 1977), also a Moscow native. In 2001, Belov was released on parole, and Shabanov was released three years earlier, also on parole.

The first murder of the duo was committed when Belov's friend Shabanov requested that they kill the merchant Alexander Cheresimov. For 15,000 roubles (equivalent to now), both of them shot him on 15 October 2001. On 26 December, on Festivalnoy Street in Moscow, Belov killed a woman who was returning from work. He stole a bag, purse, earrings, money, and a cake from the deceased. The total value of the items was about 3000 roubles (equivalent to now).

On the night of 6 to 7 January 2002, Belov got into an argument with a 46-year-old man whom he later decided to rob. He waited until the victim reached a residential building on Dorozhnaya Street, whereupon he hit him at least two times with a wooden beam before stealing his bag containing a video camera, personal belongings and documents. The Supreme Court of Russia upheld the verdict of Belov without changes, and he was sent to the "Black Berkut" colony in the Sverdlovsk Oblast.

Subsequently, in 2005, another trial took place, in which Belov and Shabanov were found guilty of as many as 10 attacks, one of which, committed on October 16, 2001, ended in murder. Shabanov was resentenced to 21 years in prison, and Belov's sentence remained unchanged. The exact number of victims of the Khovrinsky Maniac and his accomplice is still unknown. According to an investigator, about 80 victims belong to Belov and Shabanov, but the court found them guilty of only committing 7 murders.

Current status In 2010, Belov was moved to Ognenny Ostrov, where he currently remains. In December 2022, he confessed to a murder committed in December 2002. He would later plead guilty and receive an additional 19 years imprisonment to be served concurrently with his already-existing life term.

In the media and culture Documentary film "Khovrinsky Maniac" from the series by Vakhtang Mikeladze Documentary Detective Documentary film "He killed only women" from the series by Vakhtang Mikeladze Sentenced for life Documentary film "The Man with a Bat in His Hands" from the series by Vakhtang Mikeladze Lifelessly Deprived of liberty