Plumber from the Russian city of Kazan has been charged in the serial murder of at least 32 elderly women

Radik Tagirov, 39, aka ‘Granny Strangler’, and the ‘Volga Maniac’, committed the murder 2011-13, according o the charging documents

Tagirov who targeted female pensioners, gained access by posing as a social services worker or a maintenance official, it is alleged

Elderly women, mostly aged 75 to 91, opened their doors and he would then rape, strangle and rob them post posthumously

He told his police interviewers that he didn’t keep count but forensic evidence has tied him to at least 32 murders

Tagirov who allegedly, has admitted his guilt, evaded police for more than a decade, and was detained after 10,000 comparative genetic studies

A Russian plumber dubbed the ‘Granny Strangler’ has been charged with the murder of 32 elderly women in a two-year killing spree.
Radik Tagirov, 39, terrorized victims in a wide area east of Moscow, according to law enforcement.
Eleven of the alleged murders took place in oil city of Kazan.
The ‘serial killer’, a father-of-two also nicknamed the ‘Volga Maniac’, posed as a social services worker or a residential maintenance official, it is alleged.
Elderly women, mostly aged 75 to 91, opened their doors to him and once inside, he attacked and strangled them with either his hands or aprons, laundry ropes or iron cords, before stealing money.

Radik Tagirov, dubbed the ‘Granny Strangler’, has been charged with the murder of 32 elderly women in a two-year killing spree between 2011.
The ‘serial killer’ a father-of-two also nicknamed the ‘Volga Maniac’, ‘admitted’ his guilt and was ‘crying’ after his arrest, a law enforcement source said Russian ‘granny strangler’ interviewed on suspicion of 32 murders

He told his interrogator: ‘I choked them, with my hands from the back. I held on until the victim fell asleep, until she fell.’
The 32 killings all took place between 2011 and 2013, and investigations are continuing into other possible cases.

While the modus operandi of the prolific murderer left authorities befuddled, the killer evaded police for years and the suspect was detained only after more than 10,000 comparative genetic studies which uncovered matching genotypes in criminal databases.
‘He admitted his guilt, he was crying,’ said a law enforcement source.
He told investigators he ‘cannot remember’ how many female pensioners he killed, but law enforcement say they have forensic or other compelling evidence linking him to all 32 cases.
‘I didn’t count,’ he said.
Earlier reports said some victims had been raped and robbed. Currently, Tagirov is charged with 32 murders but not other crimes.

‘Analysis of biological objects found at crime scenes… determined that all the wrongful acts were committed by one individual,’ said Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko.
‘Introducing himself as a utility worker or a social worker, he freely entered their apartments,’ she said.
‘Having killed his victim, he stole the retired women’s savings and got away.’
Russian Interior Ministry spokeswoman Colonel Irina Volk said police and FSB officers were also involved in the hunt.

Kazan resident Tagirov began his killing spree after release from a jail sentence for theft in 2010, she said.
His first victim was named as Nasima Ishmuratova, 91..
The maniac was described as having ‘good communication skills, and easily wins the confidence of older people’.
As well as Kazan, capital of Tatarstan, the killings were in Bashkortostan, Chuvashia, Udmurtia, Mari El, Perm, Samara, Saratov, Nizhny Novgorod, Chelyabinsk, Ivanovo, Kirov and in Moscow.