Aleksey Vasilevich Sukletin was born on March 23, 1943, in Kazan, which was part of the Soviet Union. His mother worked as a nurse in a military field hospital. There is no information available about his father. Sukletin's early life was marked by heavy drinking, as he suffered from alcoholism. This behavior continued into his adulthood.

At 16, in February 1960, Sukletin committed his first crime. He attacked a girl at night, hitting her on the head with a heavy object and attempted to assault her. The girl was saved by two young men, and Sukletin was arrested. He was sentenced to two years in a youth detention center and was later moved to a corrective labor colony when he reached maturity.

In 1964, Sukletin committed another crime with his friends after they had been drinking. They posed as gas service workers to enter the home of an elderly woman, attacked her, and stole 80 rubles. However, the woman survived and informed the police, leading to the arrest of Sukletin and his accomplices just hours later. This time, he received a longer sentence of 12 years in prison. While incarcerated, he worked with law enforcement, discussing his past convictions, and read numerous books, which he later used to attract women.

After his release in 1976, Sukletin held several jobs but struggled to keep employment. He did not attend work as a worker for an insurance company and was fired from a guard position at a horticultural association for being absent too often. In 1978, he worked as a medical orderly at a psychiatric hospital. Soon after, he met Madina Nurgazizovna Shakirova, a 23-year-old from Vasilyevo, and they began living together. Sukletin told her that he had escaped from a prison camp in Kazakhstan.

Before meeting Sukletin, Shakirova had moved around for work, including a time in Uzbekistan. She had a child whom she gave to her parents before moving in with Sukletin. The couple soon began committing criminal acts together, starting with extortion. Shakirova would act as bait to lure taxi drivers, and Sukletin would then assault them, demanding money.

Aleksey Sukletin committed his first murder in November 1979. He invited a young woman named Ekaterina Osetrova to his home, pretending that his accomplice, Madina Shakirova, was his sister. After a meal, Sukletin distracted Osetrova and then struck her with a hammer. He then cut her throat and drank her blood while she was still alive. After she died, he dismembered her body with Shakirova's help. They ate parts of her remains and buried her bones.

Sukletin's second murder occurred in January 1980. He invited two women to celebrate the New Year. He killed one, Tatiana Illarionova, but let the other go because she was not what he desired. His third victim was a teenage girl named Rezeda Galimova, whom he lured to his dacha. He raped her before murdering her with a hammer.

The fourth victim was Nadezhda Sityavina, followed by the fifth, Natalia Shkolnikova. The youngest victim was an 11-year-old girl named Valentina Elikova. Sukletin pretended to be a relative to gain her trust before committing the murder and consuming her body. Sukletin later assaulted the daughter of a friend after Elikova's death.

In March 1985, Sukletin killed his last victim, Lydiya Fyodorova. She was murdered in a brutal attack carried out with his accomplices. After collecting her remains, Sukletin and his partner tried to hide the evidence.

Sukletin and Shakirova buried the victims in their garden. They also sold human meat to neighbors, disguised as pork. Eventually, law enforcement took an interest in the disappearances of local women after Fyodorova was reported missing. Sukletin's grasp on his deceit unraveled when he mistakenly revealed the burial site of Fyodorova to a friend.

On June 4, 1985, Sukletin was arrested. Investigators found human bones in his garden and other evidence linking him to the murders. He was later tried and sentenced to death.