Yuri Sparikhin

Yuri Valentinovich Sparikhin (; born 14 March 1963) is a Georgian-born Russian serial killer, rapist, and kidnapper who committed four murders in the city of Novorossiysk, Krasnodar Krai, and its vicinity from 1980 to 2020. He received a life term for his final murder, and his case sparked controversy over the release of violent recidivists.

Early life Yuri Sparikhin was born on 14 March 1963, in Batumi, in the Adjarian ASSR, the younger of two brothers born to Valentin and Seraphima Sparikhin. In 1973, the Sparikhin family left the Georgian SSR and moved to Novorossiysk. While residing there, his parents were known to be law-abiding and respected citizens who cared about their children.

Despite this, Yuri began to exhibit signs of troubling behaviour at an early age, as he enjoyed torturing animals for his personal enjoyment. On the day of the murder, the 17-year-old Sparikhin learned that Nadezhda planned to attend a local ballroom in the evening. He proceeded to stalk her until she reached an isolated area, where Sparikhin attacked, raped, and savagely beat her, inflicting a severe head injury and disfiguring Nadezhda's face beyond recognition. By that time, both his parents had died, and Boris had been murdered in a bar fight years prior, so Sparikhin moved in with a cousin and took a job as a pallet assembler at a local company in the city. On 14 August, having received an advance payment of 2,000 rubles, he went to the city centre and bought himself a new phone. Shortly afterwards, he committed a new crime. He immediately fled to Krasnodar, where, on the morning of 20 August, he was sitting on a bench when he noticed a car passing by, driven by a 40-year-old woman. He got inside the car and demanded to be taken to the Apsheronsky District. Once there, Sparikhin proceeded to rape and stab her to death. During the chase, Sparikhin drove 10 kilometers but eventually lost control and crashed into a ditch, whereupon he was arrested by police. After being disarmed, Sparikhin was charged with assault. In the subsequent interrogation, he admitted responsibility but refused to explain why he did it.