A RUSSIAN court has convicted an evil gang of murdering 15 homeless people, with a woman killer admitting she felt "sexual pleasure" from repeatedly stabbing dying victims.

The five butchers saw themselves as "street cleaners" in a "crusade" to rid Moscow of vagrants and drunks.

15 Elena Lobacheva, 26, with another member of an evil gang of mass murderers who slayed 15 people

15 Warped killer Lobacheva, who was obsessed with horror The Bride Of Chucky, said she got sexual pleasure from killing

15 Lobacheva formed part of a gang who dubbed themselves 'street cleaners'

The only woman in the gang, Elena Lobacheva, 26, "laughed" during the slayings and admitted to detectives that she was inspired by a Hollywood horror movie Bride of Chucky, about a doll possessed by a serial killer.

She told police that "randomly stabbing the body of a dying human brought her pleasure compared to sexual pleasure", Life news website reported.

One victim killed by her and two male accomplices was knifed 171 times, while others were repeatedly struck with hammers, the court was told.

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The gang formed after meeting at a forum of "ultra radicals", and they admitted to being inspired partly by vicious "Chessboard Maniac" Alexander Pichushkin.

The 43-year-old is a notorious serial killer who was convicted of murdering 49 people, mainly homeless and alcoholics in Bitsevski Park in Moscow.

Lobacheva confessed to being involved in seven of the murders and her accomplice Pavel Voitov, 22, said he took part in 14 of the killings.

Another "street cleaner" gang member Maksim Pavlov, 21, admitted he was involved in four murders of homeless people.

15 Police found five knives in Lobacheva's filthy flat, as well as a guide on murdering people and disfiguring corpses

15 Lobacheva was also obsessed with 'Chessboard Maniac' Alexander Pichushkin who murdered 49 people Credit: NTV.ru

15 Lobacheva during a hearing in Moscow. She was found guilty of playing a role in the murderous gang that killed 15 mainly homeless people

15 Smirking accomplice Pavel Voitov appears in court with Lobacheva

Others convicted by a Moscow jury were named as Vladislav Karatayev, 22, and Artur Nartsissov, 24.

The group kept in contact using nicknames via sinister social media groups like one - now banned - called Time to Hate, prosecutor Yaroslav Mytz told Meduza news site.

Here chilling messages were posted such as: "Everything happens for the first time, like first love, first kiss, first sex, first kill".

They murdered their victims with "ultra cruelty" between 1am and 4am in derelict areas away from CCTV cameras.

A body found near Belarussky railway station had 44 knife wounds; a victim killed in the Moscow Hippodrome was stabbed 51 times and suffered 18 hammer blows; another close to Begovaya metro station had 35 knife wounds; one more, near Workers village had two wounds inflicted by stones, and 46 knife wounds.

Lobacheva delighting in the killings, including watching her male accomplices carry out the murders, according to evidence gathered ahead of their conviction this week.

15 Lobacheva said she got sexual pleasure from knifing her victims

15 Many of the victims were found around Belorussky railway station in Moscow

15 Lobacheva, 26, is due to be sentenced along with the rest of the evil gang soon

When her flat was searched, police found five knives and on her computer a "step-by-step instruction to killing people and photos of all of her victims with their stomachs cut open and body parts cut off".

Folders titled "Tenderness" and "Need this" contained hundreds pictures and video recordings of torture and executions.

In a notebook she had recorded the number of knife wounds on the gang's victims' bodies.

A female friend of Lobacheva, called Anastasia Soldatova, said: "We often discussed beauty of death with Lena.

"Voitov and Lobacheva were keen on serial killers, they spoke a lot about maniac (Pichushkin) who was like an icon for them. They wanted to be like him."

Pichushkin wanted to kill one person for each of the 64 squares on a chess board.

Lobacheva's mother Olga said she had no inkling of her daughter's bloodthirsty and murderous obsession.

"She's messy but she is a good person. She's supportive. She didn't kill. There is no anger in her eyes," she said.

The gang's killing spree was mainly between July 2014 to February 2015. They never stole from their victims and avoided posting incriminating evidence on the web.

15 Lobacheva in a Moscow court. She had hundreds of images of torture and killing on her computer

15 Pavel Voitov, 22, sits in the dock with evil Lobacheva

15 Lobacheva's mum Olga said she had no idea her daughter was capable of such evil

Among their victims was bank worker Sergei Yevseyev - stabbed more than 100 times - who was believed to have been mistaken for a homeless man after he stopped at a local park on his way home from work.

His father Alexander Yevseyev, 60, said: "My son Sergei was neither homeless nor alcoholic.

"He worked in a bank and had met with a friend in a local park for a chat and a drink.

"After leaving he was walking home when they attacked him, stabbing him over 107 times."

The gang was finally caught after they were filmed attacking a street cleaner who managed to escape.

Prokhor Gorshkov, then 45, had finished work and was on his way home when he was set upon by the crazed couple.

He was stabbed in the back before managing to flee to a nearby police station where he gave a description of his attackers.

15 Lobacheva revealed she got gratification from slaying innocent people Credit: NTV.ru

15 Lobacheva breaks down along with other accomplices in court

Senior investigator Sergey Azhayev said: "Several homeless people were killed next to the railways near Belarussky station.

"All were killed in one particular 'style', first being struck with a hummer on their heads, and then 'finished' with knives.

"Every murder had several dozen knife wounds which showed the extreme cruelty of the killers.

"Yet initially we couldn't find a trace to help stitch the cases together.

"All the crimes were carried out in the middle of the night or very early in the morning when there were no eye witnesses."

He praised Gorshkov, an immigrant worker from Kyrgyzstan, for fighting back against the vicious gang when he was attacked.

"He lost a lot of blood but he managed to make his way home and told his son about the attack."

He was then able to describe the attackers to police.

"This was the thread that helped investigators to stitch this and other cases together."

The Moscow court is due to announce their sentences soon.

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