Maxim Vladimirovich Petrov (russian: Максим Владимирович Петров, born 1965) is a Russian

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

, convicted for the killing of 11 people in

St Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

between 1999 and 2000. Petrov, nicknamed Doctor Death by the Russian media, was a practicing

doctor Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

who targeted patients from a local health center, killing them by

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium solution) for the express purpose of causing rapid death. The main application for this procedure is capital puni ...

at their homes then

robbing Robbing is a term used in beekeeping. Bees from one beehive will try to rob honey from another hive. Occurrence Robbing behavior is especially strong when there is little nectar in the field. Strong colonies with the largest stores are the mo ...

them. Petrov was sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

and is suspected to have killed up to 19 people until his arrest.

Background

Maxim Vladimirovich Petrov worked as an emergency doctor in

, living in the central

Vasilievsky Island Vasilyevsky Island (russian: Васи́льевский о́стров, Vasilyevsky Ostrov, V.O.) is an island in St. Petersburg, Russia, bordered by the Bolshaya Neva and Malaya Neva Rivers (in the delta of the Neva River) in the south a ...

area of the city. Petrov had been married twice and has three children, one from a first marriage and two from his second marriage.

Crimes

Early robberies

In 1997, Petrov began robbing his patients by visiting their homes unannounced and usually in the morning when relatives would be at work. He would then measure their

blood pressure Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure of circulating blood against the walls of blood vessels. Most of this pressure results from the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system. When used without qualification, the term "blood pressure" r ...

and suggest they needed an

injection Injection or injected may refer to: Science and technology * Injective function, a mathematical function mapping distinct arguments to distinct values * Injection (medicine), insertion of liquid into the body with a syringe * Injection, in broadca ...

which anaesthetized them. While they were

unconscious Unconscious may refer to: Physiology * Unconsciousness, the lack of consciousness or responsiveness to people and other environmental stimuli Psychology * Unconscious mind, the mind operating well outside the attention of the conscious mind a ...

, Petrov stole their possessions, even taking

rings Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

and

earrings An earring is a piece of jewelry attached to the ear via a piercing in the earlobe or another external part of the ear (except in the case of clip earrings, which clip onto the lobe). Earrings have been worn by people in different civilizations ...

from his victims' bodies. The first few victims did not die, instead waking up later after he had left. Petrov committed 47 robberies until his arrest in 2000.

Murders

Petrov committed his first murder on 2 February 1999 during his thirtieth robbery, when he was interrupted by the daughter of an anaesthetised patient who returned home while he was stealing. He stabbed the daughter with a

screwdriver A screwdriver is a tool, manual or powered, used for turning screws. A typical simple screwdriver has a handle and a shaft, ending in a tip the user puts into the screw head before turning the handle. This form of the screwdriver has been repla ...

and then strangled the unconscious patient with a

stocking Stockings (also known as hose, especially in a historical context) are close-fitting, variously elastic garments covering the leg from the foot up to the knee or possibly part or all of the thigh. Stockings vary in color, design, and transparen ...

. After this, Petrov's

modus operandi A ''modus operandi'' (often shortened to M.O.) is someone's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also more generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode (or manner) of op ...

changed: he began to use a lethal mix of a variety of different drugs to inject into his victims instead of an

anaesthetic An anesthetic (American English) or anaesthetic (British English; see spelling differences) is a drug used to induce anesthesia ⁠— ⁠in other words, to result in a temporary loss of sensation or awareness. They may be divided into two ...

so that the victim would die, and so the police would think that the killer had little medical knowledge. Petrov would then

set fire Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...

to their homes to destroy any evidence.

Arrest and conviction

The police did not release a

photofit A facial composite is a graphical representation of one or more eyewitnesses' memories of a face, as recorded by a composite artist. Facial composites are used mainly by police in their investigation of (usually serious) crimes. These images a ...

of the suspect, thinking he would soon be caught. However, it took until the following year for them to realise how the victims were being selected. All were included in the same list of

lung The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of t ...

patients who had undergone a fluorography. Using this list, they identified 72 possible future victims in an operation called "Medbrat" ("Male Nurse") involving 700 police officers. They arrested Petrov when he visited one of the patients on 17 January 2000. On his arrest, Petrov admitted to the murders but recanted his confession a few months later, blaming it on the intense psychological pressure he had endured while in custody. Various possessions stolen from the victims were later found in his flat, though he had already sold others at the market. Six of the patients who were not killed were seriously injured. Petrov was suspected of committing 19 murders, but tried for just 17. In 2002, Petrov was found guilty of 11 murders and was sentenced by judge Valentina Kudriashova to

Notes and references

External links

Guardian report from during the trialNovaya Gazeta post-trial article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrov, Maxim 1965 births Inmates of White Swan Prison Living people Medical practitioners convicted of murdering their patients Medical serial killers People convicted of murder by Russia Poisoners Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Russia Russian emergency physicians Russian people convicted of murder Russian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Russian serial killers