Kaspars Petrovs Latvian serial killer Country: Latvia

1. Biography of Kaspar Petrov
2. Early Life and Crimes
3. Motives and Arrest
4. Trial and Imprisonment

Biography of Kaspar Petrov

Kaspar Petrov was a Latvian serial killer who was accused of 38 murders, although he was only proven guilty of 13 of them. He is considered the most bloodthirsty killer in Latvia, being referred to as the 'Riga Raskolnikov' and the 'Darwinist'. His criminal trial was recognized as the most high-profile in the history of Latvia. Not only did no other lone killer have such a high number of victims, but even an entire criminal group could not boast of such a count.

Early Life and Crimes

Kaspar Petrov was born in 1978 in the city of Grobina, Liepaja district, Latvian SSR, into an intellectual family. His parents, who were doctors, raised 10 children. Petrov carried out his crimes between October 2002 and February 2003. He would enter apartments by posing as a gas service technician, then strangle elderly women and steal their valuables. According to data from the Riga Prosecutor's Office, Petrov managed to amass a sum of $30,000 from the 38 murders.

Motives and Arrest

Petrov's modus operandi involved engaging in dialogue with the pensioners, asking them to show payment receipts, and then choking them with a cloth or towel. He would then drag the bodies onto the couch, cover them with a blanket, and ransack the apartment in search of money. However, among his motives, the theory of Darwin is also considered, which Petrov interpreted in his own way. The maniac claimed that the "human society" was no different from the animal world, subject to natural selection. According to him, among humans, only the strongest have the right to live, and he considered himself stronger than the pensioners. He took the lives of 89-year-old pensioner Lyutsiya P. and procured five cans of fish, a head of garlic, and a couple of onions. Nevertheless, Petrov was deemed sane by a forensic medical commission.

On February 3, 2003, Kaspar was arrested on suspicion of murder. Prior to this, in 1998, he received a three-year suspended sentence for theft. The investigation into the killer's trail came about purely by chance when police found a fingerprint on a book in the house of one of the victims. Petrov was charged with 38 murders, although his guilt was not proven in 25 of them. Several women survived the attacks, and Kaspar was also accused of eight attempted murders. The "Riga Raskolnikov" himself confirmed that he killed all 38 pensioners, admitted his guilt in almost all the charges, but claimed in court that he never intended to kill anyone. He spent all the stolen money on gifts for his girlfriends and women of loose morals. Before his sentence was handed down in May 2005, the Darwinist killer delivered a poignant speech expressing remorse for his actions. He apologized to the victims and shifted the blame onto his family, stating that he had always been different from his siblings since childhood. Petrov spoke of a lack of attention and feeling like an outsider. Because of all this, he tried to attract attention through various pranks and mischief. However, his family considered his problems insignificant, and Kaspar immersed himself in a world of books, imagining fantastical realms. According to him, he could no longer distinguish truth from fiction, as reality and fantasies merged into one.

Trial and Imprisonment

Petrov claimed that his parents demanded too much from him and that he clearly understood that he could not earn enough money through honest work. According to his own words, the murders did not bring him any joy - Petrov even found it repulsive to strangle grandmothers. However, at some point, he became addicted and could not say "stop." Initially, the maniac wanted to limit himself to robberies, but even when he turned to murder, he did not realize that he was killing elderly women. Judge Mara Cherkasova, presiding over the trial, read the verdict for three days starting from May 10. The announcement of the verdict for Kaspar Petrov was delayed because the guilty party constantly complained of severe headaches. In total, the materials of his case took up 25 volumes. Kaspar was sentenced to life imprisonment and sent to the prison called "White Swan" (Daugavpils Prison).

After spending two years in prison, Kaspar sold his memoirs to the RTR channel for 1,000 lats, and a documentary film about the life of the maniac and his criminal acts was soon produced.