The killers appeared at any time, in any country, regardless of its condition and well-being. The post-war USSR was no exception. A maniac appeared here, deftly adjusting to the harsh reality.
Philip Tyurin operated in Leningrad, which had just begun to recover from the war hell. Contemporaries, one might say, did not know about the criminal. The fact is that the trial of Philip was closed, and the media of that time were silent about Tyurin. A new shock to the already exhausted Leningraders was useless.
A front-line soldier who decided to become an assassin
Philip Petrovich Tyurin was born in 1910 in the village of Twilight, which then belonged to the Ryazan province. Before the start of the Great Patriotic War, his life was quite ordinary and commonplace. He worked in his native village and, as they say, did not claim anything. When the war broke out, Tyurin went to the front. In one of the battles, he was seriously injured, because of which he was discharged. Philip was treated in a military hospital in Leningrad. And when the war ended, he decided not to return to his native Twilight. He understood that life would be better in the city, even if it had survived a terrible blockade.
There were no problems with employment. He managed to get a job as a cabman at the canteen of the district supply department of the Bolshevichka plant. Since he did not have his own housing in the city, Philip was given a room in one of the rooms in the dining room.
Tyurin began to live, like all citizens of post-war Leningrad. There were enough problems, but the city quickly came to its senses. Already at the end of the victorious 1945, the people began to understand that all the worst was left behind, and a new life lay ahead. And there was no room for the heartbreaking siren blast, bombing and nightmares. Yes, the food situation was still difficult, but the understanding that all this was temporary warmed souls. In addition, in the markets of that time, it was always possible to exchange some things for food. In general, Leningrad lived.
Tyurin saw all this. He himself often visited the markets, actively participating in the exchange process. But he had few unnecessary things, so very quickly this source of food production dried up. And the food that Tyurin received on the cards was not enough for him. In addition, Philip began to be greatly weighed down by his present. He wanted a richer and more fulfilling life. And then a plan was born in Tyurin's head. Why hunch your back when you can go the easier way, the way of crime. Philip was not afraid of the law and the police, because he was confident in his methodology. And the place of action, the future killer chose the Forerunner and Smolensk markets.
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Potatoes in exchange for life
Even in the spring of 1945, people began to disappear in Leningrad. But law enforcement agencies did not link these crimes. And the search for the missing led nowhere. People just disappeared. But the permanent "inhabitants" of the Forerunner and Smolensk markets began to talk about the criminal who operated there. People began to look at each other with suspicion as bartering became a dangerous activity.
The law enforcement agencies took on the disappearances in November 1946, when a certain Barayev disappeared. A statement about his disappearance was brought by the guy's boss. He told the police that Barayev worked at the plant, was a leader and was the soul of the company. Literally the day before, a guy whose vacation was coming to an end came to the plant and asked which shift he should go on. Then he talked to colleagues and left. No one saw him again. The boss, being a responsible person, was very surprised when he learned that Barayev did not show up for work. And he immediately developed a vigorous activity to find his subordinate.
First of all, the boss dropped in to see the workers who lived with Barayev in the factory dormitory. They also did not know anything, only they said that the guy did not spend the night. The boss had no doubts that something had happened to his employee. But what is it? Thanks to further searches, the chief was able to find out that Barayev was going to meet with a certain person at the supply department of the Bolshevik plant. But whether he went to the meeting or not, it was not possible to find out. Therefore, the boss had to inform about the employee's failure to go to work. At the same time, he wrote a statement to the police. But the search for the disappeared Barayev in hot pursuit yielded nothing. The guy seemed to have sunk into the water.
Then a statement was received about the disappearance of a certain Rozhnova. A sixty-two-year-old woman went to the Smolensk market to exchange personal belongings for potatoes. She was never seen again.
Then the twenty-five-year-old front-line soldier Anatoly Sidorov disappeared. After interviewing witnesses, the police managed to recreate the scene of the crime. Sidorov, dressed in an army overcoat, arrived at the Forerunner market with a captured gramophone. He wanted to exchange it for potatoes. Soon a man of about forty approached him. After a short auction, they managed to agree on the amount of potatoes for which Sidorov was ready to exchange the gramophone. After shaking hands with each other, the men left the market. But what happened next, they did not know.
But it was like this: Sidorov wanted to attach a valuable thing as profitably as possible, so at first there were no people willing to barter. Potatoes at that time were highly valued, but a gramophone (albeit a trophy one) was still not a vital thing. But suddenly a man approached Anatoly and, inquiring about the terms of barter, immediately agreed, they say, he always dreamed of having such a thing. But he did not have potatoes with him, so Sidorov received a sensible proposal - to go with the buyer to his home and personally select the required amount. True, the subsidiary farm was far away, in the area of the workers' supply department of the Bolshevik plant. The delighted Anatoly did not suspect anything, so he immediately agreed.
By the time the men got to the right place, it was already dark. Philip Tyurin took Anatoly into the back room and lit a kerosene lamp. Then he opened the door to the cellar, gave the guest sacks and told the guy to pick up potatoes himself, as agreed in the market. Sidorov went down to the cellar. I must say that the potatoes were really there. Tyurin prepared well, because the victim was not supposed to guess about anything. Anatoly, like the others, went down to the cellar, picked up potatoes and began to climb back. And as soon as his head appeared from the cellar, Tyurin struck it with all his might with an ax. The front-line soldier died instantly. Sidorov survived the worst war in the history of mankind, but became the victim of an greedy murderer.
Philip pulled Sidorov out and made sure that he was dead. Then he took off all his clothes, because she also represented material value. After that, he got rid of the body, hiding it in one of the bunkers located nearby. In general, he acted according to a previously worked out scheme.
Then several more people disappeared, who also went to the Forerunner and Smolensk markets. And in all cases the witnesses claimed that they saw the disappeared for the last time talking to a man of about forty. He invariably offered to exchange things for potatoes, which he never had with him. Soon the policemen had several dozen statements about missing people in their arms. Someone remembered what the Bolshevik plant remembered from the snatches of the conversation. This, in fact, was the first, and the last clue at that time.
At first, the investigation considered that a cannibal had started in Leningrad. After all, almost all militiamen perfectly remembered the harsh siege time, when people mad with hunger did not shy away from even human flesh. So they decided that someone, due to nutritional problems, decided to return to the terrible practice. Cannibalism could explain the disappearance of people.
There was also a second version. It consisted in the fact that the criminal killed people for selfish purposes, wanting to take possession of their property. After all, all the disappeared came to the market either with money or with valuables (most of them had gramophones with them).
The police were surprised by the places where the offender chose his victims. The fact is that both the Forerunner and Smolensk markets were one of the smallest in the city. Accordingly, there were much less people here than in other bazaars. There, the situation with the crime was much worse, so the police kept those places under control. All this suggested that the offender lived somewhere nearby. But the mention of "Bolshevik" indicated the opposite.
Law enforcement officers established surveillance of markets and tram stops. Just in case, they checked the attics and basements of all nearby houses. But this did not bring any results. They took control and identification of all the corpses that appeared in the city. But none of them were missing. The investigation was making no headway.
Man with an ax
The case helped to get things off the ground. "Vtorchermet" threw a cry to collect scrap metal. The workers of Bolshevik also got involved in this business. Like ants, they dragged everything that came across: roofing iron, and wire, and the remnants of artillery shells. Exploring the territory near the plant, hard workers drew attention to the abandoned bunkers. They, of course, did not harbor illusions, but you never know? Therefore, the men began to scrupulously examine the structures. And in one of the bunkers a terrifying find awaited them - corpses.
At first, the hard workers thought that these were the bodies of people who died during the war. Anything can happen, all of a sudden it was this bunker that was accidentally missed and the dead soldiers remained in it. But the factory workers quickly dismissed this version. First, the bodies were fairly fresh. Secondly, completely naked. Someone had removed everything from them, right down to their underwear.
The terrible find was immediately reported to the police. Soon, law enforcement officers managed to establish the identity of the victims. The first was Anatoly Sidorov, who disappeared at the end of November. The second is Nikolay Tikhomirov, who went to the market for the sake of barter on December 1. And not far from the bunker was the canteen of the subsidiary farm of the workers' supply department of the Bolshevik plant. The puzzle, as they say, is complete.
Search for the criminal
Checks began. It turned out that that dining room was empty. But in one of the premises, the factory cabman Philip Tyurin lived at one time. When interviewing other workers of the plant, it was possible to establish that Tyurin often visited the Forerunner and Smolensk markets, offering potatoes in exchange for the things he needed. It turned out that Tyurin was an introverted and unsociable person, keeping aloof from the rest of the workers. No information could be obtained about his family. In general, the cabman was ideal for the role of a criminal. But it was not immediately possible to detain him. It turned out that he had recently quit his job, deciding to return to his native village. Eyewitnesses to the departure reported that Philip had many things that he sent to Twilight in eleven suitcases.
The search of Tyurin's room indirectly confirmed that the police were able to establish the identity of the offender. Traces of blood were found everywhere. The same traces were found in the barn and in the restroom, which were located near the dining room. In the restroom, a whole basin of frozen blood was found at all. She was sent to a forensic medical examination to establish who she belonged to. But the guards did not have doubts - this is the blood of the killed people.
In the meantime, the results of the examination were being prepared, the policemen began to comb the territory, in search of the rest of the dead people. The guards reasoned logically that the offender had to hide the bodies somewhere near his lair. But the first studies led nowhere. Then the guards drew attention to two small reservoirs, located just near the dining room "Bolshevik". Both of them were covered with a crust of ice, but given the freezing temperature, it was decided not to pay attention to this fact. They brought the boat hooks, broke the ice and began to explore the bottom of the reservoirs. Soon we managed to hook some heavy object. With difficulty, the guards dragged the corpse of a man ashore, to which a piece of iron was tied so that it would not float. Then another body was discovered. Two corpses were also pulled from the next reservoir. All of them died due to a blow to the head, presumably with an ax. The victims were quickly identified. Among them was Barayev.
Soon the results of the forensic medical examination arrived. But they disappointed investigators. All the blood that was found was not human. In the report, the expert wrote: “On the basis of the decision of the 6th department of the GOVD dated … 1946, the forensic medical expert Gushchina carried out a forensic examination of material evidence in case No. 1674 for establishing the species and group of blood. Sent a table from Tyurin's room and clippings from his apartment. Conclusion: on all parts of the table, on the platband strip No. 2, on two boards from the plinth No. …, blood was found that did not belong to a person. Blood was found on two planks from platband # 5, the species of which could not be established due to poor solubility of stains (blood) …”.
But there is no consensus about further events. According to one version, when it became clear that the culprit was Tyurin, the police were sent after him to Twilight. They detained him and took him to Leningrad. According to another version, Philip, hiding his wealth in his native village, returned to Leningrad. Apparently, he believed so strongly in impunity that he was not afraid of the police and decided to continue the killings.
But, one way or another, Tyurin was arrested. And although at first he tried to deny everything, law enforcement officers managed to get him to talk. And Philip confessed to the murders. Moreover, he even agreed to show the police the places where he hid the corpses. So they managed to find thirteen people. Philip indicated the place of burial and the fourteenth body, but it was impossible to get it, since there was already a railway line. In general, Tyurin confessed to the murder of twenty-nine people. But it was not possible to find all the bodies, since Philip also used the Utkina creek as a storehouse - a backwater on the Neva River. Due to the fact that the bottom there is covered with a thick layer of silt, the bodies could not be found even by scuba divers.
As for the blood found in Tyurin's room, as well as in the back room and restroom, it belonged to cows. The offender said that sometimes he traded in meat from domestic animals, which he brought from his village.
While the investigation was going on, Philip's luggage returned, all of his eleven suitcases filled with a wide variety of things. Relatives confirmed that Tyurin's wealth once belonged to the victims. So there was no doubt that Philip was the killer.
The investigative process in the cabman case came to an end. He was escorted to the last court session. Tyurin was found guilty of the death of fourteen people (the rest could not be found). But that was more than enough. The offender was sentenced to capital punishment. And in 1947, Philip the Bloody (he received such a nickname) was shot. There was practically no talk of this in the media. Why do Leningraders need more cause for concern?
Author: Pavel Zhukov