Cannibalistic model put away into mental institution

An epic investigation of a female model murder that lasted for two years has finally come to end. The case became extraordinary when it became clear that cannibalism was involved. It all happened at the picturesque Big Creek near the village of Ulyanovka in the Leningrad region, where a group of models arrived for a photo shoot.

25-year-old Anna and 24-year-old Regina after the departure of their friends stayed at the creek to swim and sunbathe. At some point, less experienced in modeling Anna felt envious of her successful girlfriend and in a fit of rage started choking and drowning her.

A day earlier Regina sold Anna her knuckles with a hidden blade. As it turned out, the sale turned against her as this makeshift knife was used by Anna to inflict several fatal wounds to Regina. Then, after pulling the body out of the water, Anna cut a piece of flesh from Regina's thigh and ate it.

After that Anna wrapped the body in a plastic bag and, as if nothing had happened, went to visit a friend who lived nearby and even asked her for help in hiding the crime.

Fortunately, her friend was smart enough to immediately call the police. When a police officer disguised as a laborer hired to carry the dead body saw the corpse, Anna was handcuffed.

By and large, it was a clear case of premeditated murder, the first part of Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, six to 15 years in prison. If the Court paid attention to the fact of cannibalism, it would fit perfectly under the second part of the same article, "use of organs and tissues of the victim."

The legislation is primarily meant for "black" transplantation, in the spirit of Kosovo "freedom fighters" who cut out organs from captured Serb for sale to wealthy clients. But, in principle, the concept could be sufficient to make the murderer responsible for eating parts of the victim's body since there is no special article for cannibalism in the Russian Criminal Code.

However, cannibalism is not typical for civilized countries. Therefore, the investigation developed interest in the reasons of the savage murder. The main motive, "envy," that the killer provided, did not explain the subsequent cannibalism.

Quite predictably, the arrested girl was sent for a psychiatric evaluation. The evaluation, like the law enforcement officials expected, determined that the murderer suffered a number of serious mental illnesses, primarily paranoid schizophrenia.

The term "schizophrenia" literally means "many minds." In the Middle Ages it was considered that this condition implied that the human soul was invaded by some demonic essence dictating the victim its will.

Modern medicine, of course, does not believe in mysticism, but admits that schizophrenia patients often hear "voices" pushing them to some destructive action. Often, the voices push them towards suicide, and sometimes even murder. Science explains the origin of these "voices" by the activities of the diseased brain.

"Paranoia" is a term that means, in the first place, pathological suspicion. This is clearly what happened during the tragedy at the Big Creek, when Anya started suspecting her more successful friend of something bad.

After the psychiatric evaluation the young cannibal was sent to a specialized psychiatric hospital instead of prison. She already spent over 18 months there waiting for the results of the evaluation.

In this sense, it is hard to say which punishment is worse, the real prison or psychiatric establishment. Virtually, it is also a prison that may prove to be "indefinite." After all, as long as patients present a danger to society they have to stay in a specialized hospital and treated until cured.

However, schizophrenia, by definition, is an incurable disease. Although, of course, there can be a "remission", or temporary recovery. But who can guarantee that Anna did not have such remission before the brutal murder of her friend?

In short, the future of the woman is now based solely on subjective conclusions of psychiatric commissions. She may be set free in a few years or may stay in the institution for life.
In any event, she will not be eating her friends in the near future.

Yuri Nosovsky

Pravda.Ru 

Read the original in Russian