There are plenty of famous serial killers in the world, but one lesser known killer whose crimes are just as horrific and gruesome as Ted Bundy or John Wayne Gacy is serial killer Anatoly Onoprienko. He spent his entire life in the Ukraine, from his birth in 1959 until he died in prison in 2013. Most of his early days were unremarkable, that is until 1989 when his killing spree began.
He killed more than 50 people in a seven-year span, sometimes picking off entire families, earning him the nickname "the Beast of Ukraine." The terrible crimes of Anatoly Onoprienko include the shocking murder of children and their families. The serial killer Beast of Ukraine is one of the strangest and scariest serial killers of all time.
Awful Acts That Earned Anatoly Onoprienko His "Beast of the Ukraine" Nickname,
His Rough Childhood And Life In Orphanages Probably Contributed To His Hatred Of Families
Many speculate Onoprienko had a deep hatred for families because his home life growing up was so chaotic. His mother died when he was four and his father sent him to an orphanage despite keeping Onoprienko's older brother at home. He reportedly never forgave his father, and had documented mental health issues throughout his life.
Another Man Was Blamed For Onoprienko's Murders, And Was Tortured To Death By Police
Before Onoprienko's arrest in 1996, police suspected a man named Yury Mozola was responsible for the string of murders in the country. When Mozola denied any involvement in the killings, police officers tortured him to try and force a confession. He eventually died as a result of the torture, and seven members of the Ukrainian Security Service were charged and convicted for his death. A few months later, Onoprienko was apprehended and charged with the murders.
He Used A Hammer On Members Of The Dubchak Family
The most violent murder committed by Onoprienko took place on February 19, 1996, less than two months before his capture. He broke into the Dubchak family's house in Olevsk, Zhytomyrs'ka Oblast. Once inside, he shot the father and son, before brutally beating the mother to death with a hammer. He then demanded the daughter give him some cash. When she refused, he beat her with the hammer as well.
He Hacked The Bodnarchuk Daughters To Death
The Bodnarchuk family was the second-to-last of Onoprienko's victims. They lived in Malina, L'Vivs'ka Oblast, Ukraine. The parents were the first to die - Onoprienko simply shot them. Next, he took an axe to their two daughters, who were only seven and eight. He hacked them to death. Shortly afterwards, he shot the Bodnarchuk's neighbor before using the axe on him as well.
He Stopped Cars On The Highway To Kill The People Inside
On January 6, 1996, Onoprienko took his rage on the road - the Berdyansk-Dnieprovs'k highway, to be exact. That night he stopped three cars on the road, killing all of the people in them (three drivers and one passenger) with his shotgun. He then took whatever he could from the cars, mostly cash and other potentially valuable objects.
He Started Off With Simple Burglaries And Got More Violent As Time Went On
Onoprienko started off with simple burglaries that involved quietly breaking into houses and then escaping with valuable items. Prior to turning to murder, Onoprienko and his accomplice at the time, fellow gym patron Sergei Rogozin, burglarized houses at night. They pinpointed isolated houses located in the middle of nowhere, broke in, grabbed everything of value that they could, and then fled before the families woke up. It is unknown how many of these burglaries the two committed before things turned violent. All that is known is that after the first robbery/murder, Onoprienko and Rogozin parted ways.
However, after he started killing the residents of those houses, his rage grew. Eventually, he would break down his victim's front doors and head in, ready to kill. Once he had killed everyone in the house - and some nearby witnesses, if necessary - he would look for things to steal.
His Cousin Turned Him In After He Found A Cache Of Weapons In His House
Onoprinko's last known victims were the Novosod family. All four of them - two adults and two children - were shot to death on March 22, 1996. Afterwards, in one of his signature acts, Onoprienko then set their house on fire.
The next month, Onoprienko moved in with one of his relatives, Pyotr Onoprienko. Pyotr discovered Onoprinko kept a cache of weapons, and realized they were similar to the ones used in the serial killings terrorizing the country. He promptly kicked Anatoly out of his home and then turned him into the police.
He Killed A Family Of Five And Set Their House On Fire
In 1996, the last year of his crime spree, Onoprienko killed an entire family of five - two adults and three children. The Pilat family had been sleeping in their beds when Onoprienko violently broke in. After committing the murders, he set the house on fire and then killed two potential witnesses to the crime. One was a 27-year-old railroad employee on her way to work, and the other was a 56-year-old neighbor who was simply walking down the street at the wrong time.
In A Robbery Gone Bad, He Slaughtered A Family Of 10
Onoprienko's first known violent murder took place in 1989. He and his accomplice, Sergei Rogozin (whom he had met while working out at a gym) broke into a house in Bratkovychi, Ukraine. Their goal was to steal as many valuable items as they could. However, things didn't go according to plan, and the family in the house woke up. Onoprienko and Rogozin killed the two adults and eight children living there, later claiming they killed the family in self-defense.
He Confessed To 52 Murders, But May Have Killed More
Onoprienko, also known as the Beast of Ukraine, began his killing spree in 1989 and continued brutally murdering people until he was caught in 1996. Upon his capture, he confessed to authorities that he killed 52 people, most of them in groups of four or five. He was killing entire families in one fell swoop.
There was a multi-year break in Onoprienko's confessed killings. The first two family murders took place in 1989, the others in late 1995 and early 1996. No one knows how many people he killed - or what he was truly up to - during that five year period.