ANATOLY ONOPRIENKO: “The Terminator”

Panic spread through the Eastern European country of Ukraine from late 1995 through 1996. In just six months 43 people were murdered. Each crime scene was the same. An isolated house was targeted. Everyone inside was shot to death—men, women and children. Valuables were taken from the home and the structure set on fire. Any witnesses to the brutal offenses were also slain. Police initially thought this was the work of a gang, due to the extreme violence and sheer number of victims. They soon discovered all the atrocities had been committed by one man; “The Beast of the Ukraine,” Anatoly Onoprienko, a.k.a. “The Terminator”.

Acting on an anonymous tip police searched an apartment shared by 37 year-old Anatoly Onoprienko, his girlfriend and her son on April 16, 1996. Onoprienko was taken into custody, following a brief struggle. Onoprienko reportedly ran to a closet containing a loaded pistol before being subdued. Inside the apartment, police found items belonging to murder victims, and several weapons later proven to have been used in open homicide investigations.

Initially, “Citizen O” as he was dubbed by the media admitted to only eight shootings, none of them occurring in 1995 or 1996. These occurred in 1989 and 1990 with accomplice Serhiy Rogozin. He told investigators that the shootings we robberies gone wrong . He also complained about his father and brother sending him to live in an orphanage, saying this was the reason he was forced into crime. After several hours of refusing to talk further, he relented. He contended to have more to tell, but would only make a statement to an inspector general. Investigators brought in General Romanuk, and Onoprienko described his crimes in detail. Over the next six hours, he confessed to 52 murders spanning seven years.

At first, his motive was assumed to be robbery, but authorities determined this to be a secondary motive when Anatoly explained that voices in his head ordered him to kill. Police discovered a history of outpatient treatment for schizophrenia. He alternately claimed to be commanded to kill by visions from God and to being a puppet of Satan. In a post-trial interview, he said he was obsessed with killing. “Today I am a beast of Satan,” he said.

Onoprienko’s trial was emotionally charged due to the vast number of victims, and especially the large number of children left dead by the rampage. “He does not deserve to be shot. He needs to die a slow and agonizing death.” a woman shouted at the trial. Most of those targeted were shot, but a few of the young victims had been killed with an axe and a hammer. One unsubstantiated charge indicates Anatoly killed the children so they could not testify against him. It also intimated that he murdered them so they would not be forced to grow up in an orphanage as he had done.

In the early stages, the trial was marred by mistakes in the investigation. Prior to Onoprienko’s capture, an innocent man, 26-year-old Yury Mozola, had been detained and tortured to death because he refused to admit responsibility for the killing spree. The defense also exploited the fact that police had taken so long to find Anatoly and played him as the victim of a troubled childhood. None of this had a lasting effect on the trial. Even excluding the confessions, the evidence against “Citizen O” was overwhelming. After a three hour deliberation on March 31, 1999, a judge convicted Onoprienko and sentenced him to death by firing squad.

During and after the trial, “The Beast of the Ukraine” became a media sensation. He gave several interviews including a high profile interview with the London Times. His notoriety appeared to go to his head as his claims became increasingly bizarre. Among them, his ability to control animals through telepathy and possessing hypnotic powers. He also believes he can stop his own heart from beating with his mind. He has told reporters that he is more than human, and has insisted he is part of a divine experiment.

Anatoly Onoprienko has repeatedly voiced his desire to be put to death for his offenses. "If I am ever let out, I will start killing again, but this time it will be worse: ten times worse. The urge is there,” he says. “I started preparing for prison life a long time ago -- I fasted, did yoga, I am not afraid of death,” he states. “Death for me is nothing. Naturally, I would prefer the death penalty. I have absolutely no interest in relations with people. I have betrayed them.” It appears however, that Anatoly, “The Terminator,” will live out his life in prison. Ukraine was forced to do away with capital punishment in 1999, as part of the requirements to join the European Union. He has stood by his convictions though. He is quoted in a London Times’ article saying, "Seize this chance because I am being groomed to serve Satan. After what I have learnt out there, I have no competitors in my field. And if I am not killed I will escape from this jail and the first thing I'll do is find Kuchma [Ukraine’s President] and hang him from a tree by his testicles." Some have voiced support for a law that would allow execution of convicts in extreme cases, but it seems unlikely that this will draw favor from the European Union. Serhiy Rogozin was sentenced to 13 years for his part in the first set of murders. To this day, Onoprienko remains in prison. His cell door is secured by eight separate locks.


- Joshua Wheeler