Cannibals Jailed in Russia’s Far East
A court in Russia’s Far-eastern Maritime Territory has handed down a sentence on a gang of cannibals. A fugitive sailor, a teenage girl and their acquaintance murdered three people, including a 12-year-old boy, and even ate the brains of one of their victims.
A court in Russia’s Far East found Mikhail Kabanov, his friend Nikolai Gurtovoi and 15-year-old Antonina Chernykh guilty of committing three hideous murders in the spring of this year. Kabanov, a sailor who had served in the Pacific Ocean Fleet and deserted from his military unit, was charged with murder and inveigling minors into criminal activity.
Local media reported that Mikhail Kabanov, 20, had served at a military unit based in the town of Fokino. In December 2003 he deserted and headed to the village of Volno-Nadezhdinskoye. There he befriended Nikolai Gurtovoi, and stayed at his home.
Several months later, in February, the deserter met Antonina Chernykh. The girl invited the sailor to Vladivostok where he was offered lodgings in the basement of a house, where a large group of tramps resided. Kabanov and Gurtovoi accepted the invitation.
They committed their first murders in May 2004. Law enforcers reported that during a drunken party in the basement Kabanov and a local resident Lekarev decided to kill two teenagers, who were also present, with the help of two other minors from the same group.
Kabanov and Lekarev promised the youngsters help and protection in exchange for their assistance. Together they attacked a 12-year-old. The boy tried to escape but they caught him and battered him to death. On the same day they killed a young girl who lived in the same basement. 15-year-old Chernykh took part in that killing. The murderers stabbed her several times with a knife and then impaled her on a stake.
When the girl was dead the murderers split open her skull and ate her brains.
They committed their next murder several days later. On May 9, 2004 Chernykh, Kabanov and Lekarev were staying at Gurtovoi’s house in Volno-Nadezhdinskoye. The friends quarreled and Kabanov hit Lekarev several times with a hammer, killing him.
The court sentenced Kabanov to 25 years in prison; Antonina Chernykh will spend 10 years in a correctional colony for minors. Nikolai Gurtovoi will spend 8 years in a high-security prison.
