Two Jehovah's Witnesses 'murdered 13 people on mission from God to cleanse world of sinners'



When the pair were arrested, Egorycheva was armed with two axes (file photo)

Two twisted Jehovah's Witnesses have been arrested as suspected serial killers, accused of murdering 13 people during a nine-month killing spree in Russia.

Claiming to be on a mission from God, Vladimir Gurianov, 44, and Elvira Egorycheva 46, hacked, shot and bludgeoned their victims in a case that left even hardened Russian detectives shocked.

The pair were finally spotted in a supermarket in a suburb of the city and arrested. By then they were on nationwide search lists and their photographs had been widely circulated in the region.

When they were searched Egorycheva had a revolver, two axes, an electric-shock device and a rope in her belongings.

Another gun and a knife were found in Gurianov's jacket.

Gurianov - who locals said had 'mad eyes' - and Egorycheva first met at a Jehovah's Witnesses sect meeting 16 years ago.



When they were reunited late last year, Egorycheva allegedly told him she had a vision and they must travel to the Volga region to carry out God's wishes.

She said: "God wants us to go to Nizhniy Novgorod and cleanse the world of sinners".



A neighbour said: "They were very odd. He called her "mother" or "Princess Elena". She called him "my son, Prince Mikhail".



"Gurianov used to say they had a certain mission. No-one took them very seriously but then the killings began."

The first victim was a fortune teller Ludmila Kostina, 51, with whom they made an appointment after seeing her advert in a local papers.

A day after the first murder they went to another fortune-teller, Nina Mashtakova, 66, who they killed before stealing valuables.

One victim was killed around January 10, when Gurianov answered an advert advertising Pekingese puppies.

A 17-year-old boy, returning home, found Gurianov killing his mother, who only managed to scream: "Run, boy!"



Gurianov later boasted to detectives about one particularly brutal slaying.

He said: "I shot at the head of this woman, but she was still alive. I shot her a second time and she fell down, but just as I was digging a grave for her I realised she was still alive and just watching me. So you'll understand I had to stab her."

Also in January this year, Gurianov, a convicted rapist, and Egorycheva met a 17 year-old girl by the garage complex in the city's outskirts.

Police believe the couple stopped the girl, and Egorycheva told her: "Stop, sinner! I, Princess Elena, and my son Prince Mikhail, have been sent by God to punish you!"



Gurianov then allegedly raped the girl, killed her with a hammer and buried her next to the garage complex.

He later told investigators: "Mother explained to me that every woman killed or raped by me would become my wives in the afterlife."



They are also suspected of killing 18 year-old student Masha Maslennikova, missing since May, whose body has not been found, as well as Ludmila Kotelnikova, 45, and Elena Lomteva, 37, whose corpses were found near their holiday homes.

One detective said: "Apparently, they didn't care who became their next victim, whether it was a woman, a young girl or a child. Their only criterion was to carry out the killing in remote parts of the city where no one could help the victims."



Later police asked the pair why they killed innocent people.

Gurianov, clearly enjoying recounting his deeds, replied: "God told us to go and take the money. He said: 'Go there and take as much as you need.' So we did".

One shocked detective said: "Our hearts are bleeding.

"They seem to enjoy talking about the things they have done. They feel safe as well. What is prison to them? Even if they are sentenced to life, they'll live until old age.If ever there was a case for capital punishment, this is it."

