Parents didn't abandon her despite her terrible crimes
“I felt a burning sensation in my neck. I did not immediately understand what had happened. A beautiful girl stood in front of me. She looked at me with wide eyes. She had a knife in her hands. Blood dripped from him. It was my blood…”
In the history of Soviet and modern Russia, female maniacs can be counted on the fingers. One of them, Maria Petrova, “hunted” elderly men in Moscow.
More than twenty years have passed since she was detained, but there are no less questions. What could happen to a pretty gym teacher to turn her into a serial killer? How did it happen that the oddities in her behavior did not raise questions from anyone and she continued to teach during the day and kill in the evening? Could the tragedy have been prevented? And, finally, what is happening with Petrova now?
The MK Browser studied the authentic materials on this high-profile case and found those who know Maria.
Maria Petrova. Photo: video still.
In the spring of 2002, a whole series of attacks on passers-by took place in the Zyuzino district of Moscow. They were all men, and all (except one) were elderly. The investigation concluded that even in appearance they resembled each other, from which it could be concluded that a maniac was operating. But here's the trick: the survivors and witnesses were talking about a tall, pretty girl! She, according to them, was in a tracksuit, sneakers and … with a large kitchen knife. According to their description, a sketch was made, which was hung all over Moscow. And soon she was caught, however, by accident: a police officer noticed a girl in bloody sneakers and decided to follow her. And then it seemed to dawn on him. He understood: this is the same “Zyuzinskaya maniac” (as she was dubbed for killing in the Zyuzino area), which the law enforcement agencies are looking for. A young policeman called for help, the girl was detained. She turned out to be 24-year-old Maria Petrova.
Maria Petrova.
Really tall. Really strong. To some she might seem beautiful, to someone just pretty. Maria confessed to everything, and during the search they found the same kitchen knife in her house.
And here I have one of her first interrogations.
“On December 6, 2000, I got a job at the Moscow Electrotechnological College as a physical education teacher. My device was led by a senior teacher of physical education, he is an elderly man. I worked at the technical school for a year in tandem with another physical education teacher, also elderly. Signs of excessive attention began to appear towards me, as towards a woman, from the side of a senior physical education teacher. At some point, his harassment and hints disgusted me, and in order not to conflict with anyone at work, I decided to throw out the accumulated negative emotions and one evening I took a kitchen knife with me for a run in order to slash it in the face or neck of some to an elderly man who looks like a fizruk. And running past a lonely elderly man, she slashed him with this knife. This happened near the Nakhimovsky Prospekt metro station.
Interrogation protocol.
Before that, I also took a knife for a run, but without the intention of cutting someone with it, but for self-defense, as I ran out of the house late, at 21.00. I ran towards Fruktovaya, past the Shalom Theatre. Near the bus and trolleybus stop, she noticed a young man standing behind her, obviously in a state of intoxication. I hurried to quickly pass him, but he grabbed my suit and used foul language. I took out my knife and waved it away from him. The blow landed on the neck. I was frightened by the amount of blood that spurted from his neck, pushed him away and ran home. This incident happened in the evening. Another episode occurred with an elderly man near Fruit Street. This man made me associate with a physical education teacher, and I also injured him with a knife. After that I was detained by militia officers and brought for interrogation . I voluntarily agreed to show the places of these actions to the investigator. I also admit that similar cases with elderly men happened about five times, but I don’t remember all of them and I can’t name where I hurt them.
The investigation went on for almost a year. During this time, Maria visited the Butyrki mental hospital and the center. Serbian, where doctors watched her around the clock.
Capture of the body taken by the investigation.
The investigation interviewed many witnesses in order to restore a minute-by-minute picture of all her crimes. And doctors were more interested in how it happened that the girl became a serial killer.
This is what happened in her life, judging by the materials that became available to me.
Maria was born in Moscow in a family of athletes, where there were two children (she and an older brother). Friendly, in every sense prosperous family. My father worked as a swimming coach, my mother first sat at home with the children, then she was engaged in network marketing. Everyone loved Masha, and she made everyone happy: she began to walk early, spoke early … From the age of six, the girl was sent to swim, where everything immediately began to work out for her. At school I studied at «4» and «5». In general, the joy and pride of parents.
Scene map.
And then suddenly everything went wrong. It happened when Maria became a high school student. And with studies it is worse, and with relationships in the family … Maria began to conflict with her parents and brother, which could be attributed to a difficult adolescence. Those did not like the fact that she swears, wears short skirts and bright makeup, goes to discos and sometimes does not even spend the night at home. And again — with which of the teenagers this does not happen?
But when Maria took a knife with her to the next party, the houses became worried. Fights began with her brother (there was a moment when she even sued him, accusing him of systematic beatings). At the age of 15, the first love came to the girl. Her chosen one was a friend of her brother, who at that moment was 23 years old. But happiness did not last long, the lovers parted. At the age of 18, as Maria assured, she was raped by unknown men. At 19, she found out she was pregnant. She hid this pregnancy for a long time, and everything ended tragically — premature birth (the child was born dead). Actually, after that, Maria became completely aggressive, raising her hand even to her mother. She behaved very strangely — for example, she periodically spent the night at the entrances. Maria did not want to work, she had no friends. The first time the parents called an ambulance after the girl tried to strangle her mother in response to her refusal to give her money.
The doctors of the department where she ended up recall that the patient was very arrogant, looked at other patients with contempt.
“She blamed her parents and brother for everything,” one of the doctors tries to recall those events. — She said about the latter that he was jealous, allegedly because her parents love her more. All day long she did nothing but take care of her appearance. And I really wanted to make a good impression on all doctors. I remember that she was too bright, pretentiously dressed and all so mannered. Well, I remember that my mother took her when she was discharged. This was in October 1999. It seemed to us that her condition has stabilized, she is no longer a danger to anyone.
Location.
Petrova got a job as a cleaner. The life of the family seemed to be getting better.
But two months later, my mother turned to a psychiatrist for help: Masha began talking to herself at home and scolding like a shoemaker, wrote an ad in a newspaper offering intimate services. Further more. Maria began throwing food from the balcony — she believed that her parents were poisoning her «under the influence of people from the government.» Relatives thought that this time it would cost with antipsychotics, but alas. A tragic incident has occurred.
Maria one day went for a walk with the dog, and returned without it. When the mother asked about the dog, her daughter hit her in the face. The dog soon returned on its own, finding its way home by smell. She was all slashed with a knife. Veterinarians counted 18 wounds. Probably, the dog did not run away from her beloved mistress for a long time, when she began to cut her, she did not believe that she could harm her. The animal survived by some miracle. And Maria was hospitalized, as doctors say, involuntarily. They say that she scattered the hefty orderlies like children. But, in the end, the girl was tied up and placed in a hospital.
“In the hospital, she did not deny that she had cut the dog. She said that she wanted to kill her, because she “betrayed”, did not protect her brother from the attack. There was no criticism of his condition. She believed that her mother was keeping her in the hospital on purpose and «paying a lot of money for it.» She spoke with hatred about her mother and immediately reported that «parents are not chosen», «one must endure.» I didn’t consider myself mentally ill.”
She then spent two months in the hospital. She was discharged due to «significant improvements.» And again everything seemed to be going well. Maria took medications, went to the PND, where she was registered. She became a calm, loving daughter. She helped her mother with housework and worked part-time at her firm. And after 10 months, she even got a job as a physical education teacher at a technical school.
It's hard to say how she was hired to teach with such a diagnosis. Perhaps they didn't know about it. In addition, in those years, they didn’t particularly ask for certificates from the drug and psychiatric dispensary. Teachers received little, so that almost everyone who wanted to was taken to educational institutions. And Maria was an athlete in her appearance, and from a family of athletes.
An extract from the schedule of training sessions, which is in the case file, shows: Maria conducted classes from Monday to Friday from 8 to 15 hours (Tuesday and Friday until 16.40). In addition, the girl led the kettlebell sport section and competed in swimming.
From the characteristics issued at the Moscow Electronic Technology College:
“She proved to be a conscientious, disciplined and hardworking teacher . Relations with colleagues at work were smooth. There were no conflicts with students.”
“She was harsh, laconic,” one of her colleagues, K., later told the investigator. “She practically did not tell anything about herself. In her spare time, she wrote or drew in a notebook. I personally did not notice any deviations in her behavior.”
The first “bell” came when Maria, on the bus, after a conflict with a male passenger, stabbed him with a paper knife that she had in her bag. But it was a scratch, everything worked out with apologies. A year later, Petrova went on a “hunt” for men.
“I do evening runs. I don't run regularly, but when I have time. Sometimes it happens to run every weekend, sometimes once a month. I run 4–6 km along the Kashirskoye Highway and back. Sometimes to the Kolomenskoye park. I try to run along the roads, because the asphalt is more convenient.”
The first proven victim of Petrova is her peer, 24-year-old K. She stabbed him after he, according to her, being drunk, molested her. Petrova ran away, and the young man sat on a bench at the bus stop. So they found him there, with his head almost severed. The man died at the scene from blood loss. Apparently, his murder was accidental, unlike the others.
From the record of Petrova's interrogation dated April 30, 2002:
“There was a young man standing at the bus stop, about 25 years old, about the size of me, of normal build. He was wearing a grey-green camouflage jacket. He had a youth backpack on his back. He was drunk, staggering. He grabbed my jacket, began to use foul language. The knife was in my left pocket. Out of fear, I pulled out a knife with my right hand and hit him on the neck. He was bleeding. He fell onto the bench. I, in my opinion, kicked him in the face after that. I was kind of in shock. She stuck the knife back into her sleeve and ran through the underpass to the other side of the street. From there, I looked at the guy sitting at the bus stop. The shock somehow passed. I decided to go back and check if he was dead. On the transition, she again ran to the bus stop, approached the guy. He, limp, sat on the bench, his head and upper part touching the bench. There was a lot of blood. I kicked him in the leg. He showed no signs of life …
After I killed a young man in this way, I realized that I could take revenge on the teacher who molested me by stabbing some elderly man with a knife. Thus, as if representing a teacher at this moment, I will punish him for harassment … There were drops of blood on my jacket, I washed them at home. I repent of killing K., I understand that my actions led to his death.”
Peterova's statement to the prosecutor.
60-year-old pensioner Nikolai Pavlovich Zh. went out into the street around lunchtime. As his son later recalled, he said that he would go to the store, and then take a walk. Grayish jacket, dark trousers and black cap. Later, his son would recognize his corpse by these clothes.
Nikolai Pavlovich walked calmly along Sivashskaya Street, did not touch anyone. A girl in a sports uniform approached him from behind on the left and, without saying anything, cut him in the neck. After that, she crossed to the other side of the street and only looked back there.
“I saw the man bend over, blood dripping from his neck. Then I ran towards the Shalom Theatre.
Passers-by ran to the wounded Nikolai Pavlovich and called an ambulance. But the man did not wait for the doctors — he died of blood loss. The time was approximately 18.30.
“Our family had no enemies at all. On the street and with strangers, my father never cursed or fought. Neither father nor other family members had debts. I don’t know who could have committed this murder,” the son told the investigator. When he was shown a sketch of a girl, he was very surprised (he could not believe that a young lady could do this in principle). He said that he did not know anyone like her.
Petrova attacked citizen E. She ran up to the tipsy old man from behind and hit him.
“E. felt a blow on the back from behind, which caused him to fall and lose consciousness.
This attack had several witnesses. One of them told the investigation that he saw how a girl approached an elderly man on the street and hit him in the back from behind. “The man fell, and the girl hit him in the face with her hand and ran away.” He and another eyewitness later identify Maria.
Petrova attacked citizen I. on Odesskaya Street. As he later told the investigation, a previously unfamiliar girl approached him and stabbed him with something sharp in the neck. He found blood on his neck, asked passers-by to call an ambulance, he was taken to the hospital. During the investigation, he identifies Petrova among others, and also identifies the jacket and sneakers that the girl was wearing.
On the same day, she attacked citizen Ch. According to him, walking down the street, he felt severe pain in the neck. Looking around, he saw a girl standing behind him, who held a knife in her right hand. “The girl began to back away, and I felt bad.”
“Between March 15 and April 22, I stabbed several men in the neck with a knife, all but one of them, about 60 years old. I find it difficult to name the signs of older men. At this age, they all dress the same: in dark clothes and caps.
I chose single men, with no one next to them …
In all cases, I used the same knife and put it in my left sleeve. ”
The investigation charged her with another episode, but the court eventually ruled it out (with which the prosecutor categorically disagreed) and considered only five. Two killed and three wounded — these crimes were considered proven by the court, all the rest were not. But in the end they did not judge her.
The results of a forensic psychiatric examination conducted in the center. Serbsky, showed that the girl suffers from a mental disorder, “during the period related to the incriminated acts, she could not realize the actual danger of her actions and manage them.”
“It was a rather complicated examination,” says one of the specialists who took part in it. — In the sense that contact with her was not always productive. She said that she invented the story of the harassment of an elderly teacher. She either pleaded guilty or categorically denied it. About the episode with Ch. and I., for example, she claimed that she had witnessed two fights, during which they were allegedly injured. And they could see her, as she was passing by. There were several examinations of Petrova, so she was taken out of the pre-trial detention center to us more than once. But in the end, the medical commission unanimously came to the conclusion of insanity.
Maria herself insisted that she was healthy: “Send me to prison. It's more comfortable there! My insanity is unconvincing.”
“I categorically disagreed with her hospitalization in the Center. He recalls the prison with pleasure, “because there is a home there.” She explains that there she had a friend with whom she talked a lot. With other women there were calm and comfortable relations. She said that “time passes better and faster in prison than in the Center.” She says that her father and brother bring her parcels, write letters, support her, friends don’t forget either, so she doesn’t feel lonely.”
On January 20, 2003, the Moscow City Court ordered compulsory treatment for her. The victims did not agree, they insisted: Petrov should be punished, not treated, a prison, not a hospital. But the Judicial Collegium for Criminal Cases of the Supreme Court did not agree with this. Maria went to mental hospital #5.
At first, in a mental hospital on Matrosskaya Tishina Street, Maria Petrova had serious problems. She clashed with doctors and patients, refused to be treated and even tried to escape. The girl was caught, returned, forced to take medicine. But she remained a very difficult patient. As a result, «due to the increased danger» in 2007, she was presented to the medical commission, and it recommended that she be transferred to a psychiatric hospital of a specialized type with intensive observation (PBSTIN).
For almost six years, Petrova was in Kazan PBSTIN . The medical commission in 2013 recognized that she no longer posed a danger, that her aggression was gone. And Petrova, again, was returned by court to Moscow, to the hospital she already knew.
Maria's parents did not abandon her. Her mother visited her every month.
In the summer of 2018, the Moscow City Court considered the petition of the doctors of the Moscow psychiatric hospital to change the conditions of compulsory treatment for Maria Petrova. They asked permission to transfer her to a general hospital from a specialized one. The principle of treatment is the same, but the patient is not under constant supervision. And it's not like she's healed, no. But there are no more thoughts of escaping, he behaves approximately. In general, the court of doctors supported. In the hospital, not so long ago, an employee of the MUR, who was in charge of her case, visited her. He said later that he had a very good conversation with her and that she was full of hope for the future.
Maria is 44 years old today. Who knows, maybe someday doctors will consider that she has recovered and is no longer dangerous. However, hardly. Her illness is one of those whose consequences no one can predict. And each time, if such patients are not stopped and treated, they commit more and more terrible and terrible crimes. And after Maria, women maniacs were no longer heard in Russia.