Summary
Name:
Alexander KoryakovYears Active:
1999Status:
ImprisonedClass:
Mass MurdererVictims:
4Method:
Stabbing / HackingNationality:
LatviaSummary: Mass Murderer
Name:
Alexander KoryakovStatus:
ImprisonedVictims:
4Method:
Stabbing / HackingNationality:
LatviaYears Active:
1999Date Convicted:
December 7, 1999Alexander Koryakov was born in 1979 and lived in the Gulbene area of Latvia. By 1999, Koryakov was 19 years old. Reports describe him as unemployed at the time of the attack. He lived in or near Gulbene, a town in eastern Latvia, about 200 kilometers from Riga according to The Baltic Times.
Before the murders, Koryakov became interested in violent crime and reportedly studied material about Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo. After his arrest, police stated that he wanted to become famous like Chikatilo.
The attack was not described as sudden or accidental. Reports state that Koryakov planned the crime before entering the kindergarten. He allegedly bought weapons before the attack and had asked questions about the school and the children. The Baltic Times reported that he killed the children during nap time at the nursery school.
On February 22, 1999, Alexander Koryakov entered a kindergarten in Gulbene, Latvia, during the children’s nap time. He was armed with a meat cleaver and other bladed weapons. The victims were young children resting inside the school. Koryakov attacked three girls, who were reported as being about 4, 5, and 6 years old. Their teacher, Anzhelika Zhvigure, tried to protect the children and was also killed. A school nurse was injured during the attack but survived.
After the attack, Koryakov tried to leave the area, but he was arrested the same day. The murders shocked Latvia and were described as one of the country’s worst acts of violence in recent years. Latvian President Guntis Ulmanis publicly addressed the killings and called for school security measures to be reviewed.
During questioning, Koryakov reportedly admitted that he wanted the kindergarten murders to be the beginning of a wider killing spree. Police said he had studied Andrei Chikatilo and wanted to become similarly notorious. Koryakov’s trial began on November 29, 1999, at the Vidzeme / Madona District Court. He was tried for the murders of the three girls and their teacher.
On December 7, 1999, the Vidzeme Regional Court sentenced Alexander Koryakov to life imprisonment. The Baltic Times reported that life imprisonment was the harshest available punishment imposed by the court.
