The Cannibal Couple
By chance, the Russian police uncovered one of the most notorious cannibal couples, who had dismembered more than 30 people and then preserved their body parts in preserving jars in order to eat them. But let’s take it one step at a time. It all began on 11 September 2017, when construction worker Roman Khomyahov found a mobile phone whilst laying tarmac at the side of the road in his home town of Krasnodar. When he looked at the contents of the phone, he shuddered. For there were photos of body parts in preserving jars, a woman’s head on a serving platter and a man with a severed hand in his mouth. Roman showed the photos to his colleagues, who were convinced that they were photoshopped images. But then a man with a dog came by, asking about his lost mobile phone. When Roman saw him, he recognised him as the man with the hand in his mouth. He denied having found a mobile phone. When the police drove past a short while later, Roman handed the phone over to them. Using the phone, they were able to identify the owner. He was 35-year-old, unemployed Dmitry Baksheev, who had been married to 42-year-old Natalia for 18 years. The couple lived on the outskirts of the southern Russian city of Krasnodar in a small room in a student hall of residence. Natalia, who had previously worked as a nurse at the Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots, was also unemployed due to her alcohol addiction. The couple lived from hand to mouth. During a search of the room, the police found a freezer containing seven packages filled with dismembered human remains. In addition, piles of preserving jars containing body parts, scraps of skin and tinned food were discovered. The couple were arrested. During police questioning, the couple confessed to murdering 30 people, eating their body parts and selling them to catering establishments as supposed pork. The couple’s gruesome crimes shocked the whole of Russia; the media dubbed them the ‘Krasnodar Cannibals’. In February 2019, Natalia Baksheev was found guilty by the court of incitement to murder and sentenced to 10 years in a penal colony and 1.5 years’ imprisonment. Her husband, Dmitry Baksheev, was sentenced on 28 June 2019 to 12 years and 2 months’ imprisonment in a high-security prison. He was also ordered to undergo compulsory supervision and treatment by a psychiatrist. However, after eight months, Dmitry Baksheev died on 16 February 2020 whilst in custody from untreated type 1 diabetes. With that, at least one of the cannibals was consigned to history forever.
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