Russia's Ma Barker and her family of middle class murderers: ruthless nursery teacher, her dentist husband and their daughters 'killed at least 30 people including women and children'

Family had a 'comfortable' home but travelled for miles to carry out crimes

Boy, 7, was shot in the head while his sister was stabbed 37 times

Two teenage girls had their eyes gouged out in horrific torture routine

Six policemen were among murder victims of six-year-crime spree



Mother Inessa Tarverdiyeva demonstrated how she gunned down victims

A family in Russia are behind a six-year reign of terror including at least 30 murders and countless robberies, say police.

Former nursery teacher Inessa Tarverdiyeva, 46, and her second husband Roman Podkopaev, 35, a qualified dentist, were involved in the spate of ruthless serial killings.

Tarverdiyeva's daughter from her first marriage Viktoria Tarverdiyeva, 25 and her 13-year-old daughter Anastasiya 'actively took part in all crimes', say police in the Rostov region.



Scroll down for video



Family affair: Former kindergarten teacher Inessa Tarverdiyeva, 46, demonstrates to police how she used a gun to kill her victims

Head of the family Roman Podkopayev (left) who was killed by police in a shootout and mother Inessab Tarverdiyeva's 25 year old daughter Viktoria who was seriously wounded



Podkopaev died in a shootout with police when the middle class killers were finally arrested, and Viktoria was seriously wounded.

Six policemen were among their murder victims in a family crime spree which began in earnest six years ago though some offences go back to 1998.

They saw murder and robbery like 'going to the office for a day's work', claimed Inessa who also confessed to hating police saying: 'I am a gangster by nature.'

Killing was a 'means of earning money', she said, before demonstrating to police how she used a gun to kill her victims.



In one 2009 murder, the gang murdered paratrooper Dmitry Chudakov, his wife Irina and son Sasha, 7, with a semi-automatic weapon before daughter Veronika, 11, was knifed 37 times.

'Housewife' Inessa Tarverdiyeva demonstrates to police how she gunned down victims during a six year reign of terror that left 30 people dead

Inessa Tarverdiyeva shows how she shot one of her victims through a car window They overpowered the family in their car at a lay-by, stealing a laptop, hair dryer and a camera, all worth £950. 'It was not me who killed the children. My husband shot them,' claimed Inessa, who confessed to gunning adults to death.

On another occasion the gang tortured and killed two teenage girls, gouging out their eyes. One is believed to have been Inessa's goddaughter.

The former teacher allegedly robbed the girl's house because she knew her father was a passionate hunter and kept hunting guns at home.

She reportedly hid inside the house with with her gang waiting for the girl's parents to return. But her goddaughter and her friend walked in and were killed.

The gang used camping trips - which seemed like family holidays - as a pretext for their murderous activities.

Vicious: One occasion the family cruelly tortured and killed two teenage girls, gouging out their eyes

Vladimir Markin, chief of Russia's equivalent of the FBI, said: 'They looked like a totally good, nice family. Imagine them - a mother, a father, two children, including an underage girl.

'I am sure that when they were together one could hardly imagine that they could even plan a crime.'

Inessa claimed that some of the policemen were killed to get extra arms, 'Others were shot purely for the sake of money.'

According to the police, both Inessa and her second husband had higher education qualifications.



Several years ago, she gave up work in a kindergarten and 'switched completely to their robbery and murder business', said a source.

Podkopaev's sister Anastasia Sinelnik was arrested on suspicion of aiding and abetting the crime family

The group were finally arrested after a robbery on the home of a former military officer in Baklanova Street, Aksai, in Rostov region.

As well as killing an unnamed husband and wife, they stole alcohol and candles - as well as chicken drumsticks from the fridge - after finding no money.



Podkopaev and his adopted daughter Viktoria tried to escape on a scooter but minutes after leaving the crime scene they were stopped for an ID check by police.



When they asked for his documents he pulled out his weapon and opened fire.

A second police car came to assist but not before patrolman and father-of-one Ivan Shakhovoi was gunned down.



Wounded policeman Aleksey Lagoda, who was in the same patrol as murdered Shakhovoi, said from hospital: 'We told them that we were police, to which the man suddenly raised his arm at shot in my direction.'

Searches of the family's homes revealed an 'arsenal' of 20 firearms, including automatic rifles, grenades, shotguns, silencers and ammunition, as well as items stolen from their victims, said Vladimir Markin, spokesman for the Russian Investigation Committee, equivalent of the FBI

The gang normally broke into private homes from the rear, thoroughly planning their escape, said Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin.



They used walkie-talkies and seemed to be well informed about police movements, he said, adding it was difficult to estimate the total number of crimes they committed.

The family had a comfortable home in the Stavropol region but travelled to neighbouring Rostov to commit their crimes.



Inessa and her younger daughter were seized by police at a camp site where they were guarding a huge haul of weapons.

While Podkopaev is portrayed by many reports as the gang leader, other accounts suggest his wife was the moving force behind their evil acts.



She refused to say why she hated policemen. One theory is that she had a lover who was a policeman who left her for another woman. Police now suspect that she later murdered the officer and his new lover.



A friend of Inessa said of her: 'Everyone called her Inna but in her passport she is Inessa.

Victims: Former paratrooper Dmitry Chudakov and his seven year-old son were shot in the head. His wife and daughter were stabbed

Hideout: Inside the tent where mother Inessa and 13-year-old Anastasia were caught by police

Wounded policeman Aleksey Lagoda (left) and Ivan Shakhovoi (right) who was murdered by the gang



'She grew up with her mother, step-father and younger brother. The family was a good one, Inessa was a beauty and many young men liked her, but her step-father watched that she was back home in time and she argued with him about it.'

'She fell in love with an Azerbaijani man called Arzu, Viktoria's father. He died in mysterious circumstances at a power station were he worked.'



Podkopaev was 'a suspect and he married Inessa later,' said the friend.

'Inessa's younger brother openly talked about it. I rarely met Inessa afterwards, and only know that she had one more daughter later.'



Also arrested as part of the family crime gang were Podkopaev's sister, also called Anastasiya, aged 26, and her husband Sergei Sinelnik, 31, a former traffic policeman.



They are suspected of aiding and abetting the crime family by identifying targets for their robberies, say police sources. They were also used to conceal stolen goods.



Weeping in court, Anastasiya told journalists she was not guilty but refused to say if she knew about the crimes her relatives and their children were committing.



Before the dramatic finale to the family's years of crime, the authorities suspected the killers had an inside track to the police.



Sinelnik, 31, a traffic policeman from Aksai region, did not take part in killing people but knew about all murders and hid some stolen things at home, claim sources.



He confessed to feeling pleased that his colleagues could not find the killers yet he knew exactly who they were.



His wife Anastasiya took stolen valuables to the jeweller to sell or make into new jewellery, it is claimed.

