Alexander Vasilyevich Kiselev was born in 1978 in Perm, Russia, the only child of two FSIN employees. His upbringing showed no reports of abuse or neglect, but during his teenage years he began to display signs of mental illness, becoming withdrawn and avoiding social interactions. This caused conflict with his father. After completing ninth grade, he dropped out of school and never pursued further education or steady employment, living off his mother’s support. In the late 1990s, he moved into an aging apartment building on the outskirts of Perm. During this time, he developed a habit of fabricating stories about himself, falsely claiming ties to local gangsters and introducing himself as “Kudin” to give the impression of criminal connections. Despite these claims, he had no documented criminal record until his later murders.

In late October 2003, Kiselev befriended two female university students, 18-year-old Lilia Tarutina and 20-year-old Olesya Danutsa, after meeting them at the Perm II railway station. The women had recently returned to school from their hometown in Kogalym. Kiselev gained their trust, as well as that of their grandmothers with whom they lived. On 29 October 2003, after Tarutina visited him to drink coffee and play cards, Kiselev strangled her with a tie. The following day, he persuaded Danutsa to visit his apartment and killed her the same way, using the same tie. He buried both bodies in a shallow grave near his home, leaving the ties around their necks because he liked that they matched the victims’ shoes. Police began questioning people who had last seen the women alive, and Kiselev fled. He was arrested in early December 2003 while on a date with another woman, who had alerted authorities after learning of the investigation. At the time of arrest, he carried a tie and a razor, suggesting he may have planned another attack. He confessed to the murders but claimed there was no clear motive beyond an urge to kill. On 16 June 2004, he was convicted and sentenced to 22 years in prison, later reduced to 20 years due to procedural errors in the case.

During his imprisonment, Kiselev maintained good behavior and even received recommendations for parole, but his 2018 petition was denied. In 2020, his sentence was partially replaced with forced labor, and he was transferred to a penal colony in Gornozavodsk, where he worked in a woodworking enterprise. There, he met Natalia, a 43-year-old mother of three from Chusovoy, and began a relationship with her. To hide his past, he falsely claimed he had been convicted of hooliganism and that his wife had left him. After his release in August 2022, he moved to Chusovoy and continued seeing Natalia, despite her being in a long-term relationship.

On 13 November 2022, after Natalia attended church with her family, she met Kiselev for a date. That evening, he strangled her in a Chusovoy apartment, reportedly after she refused his request to leave her husband and marry him. He used multiple objects to choke her, including his belt, plastic bags, a bag strap, and a cable antenna. Her body was found the next day, partially undressed. An autopsy confirmed recent sexual intercourse; Kiselev claimed it was consensual, but Natalia’s mother alleged it was rape.

Kiselev fled, moving between rented apartments and changing SIM cards daily. On 20 November 2022, a landlady in Perm recognized him and contacted police, leading to his arrest that evening. At the time, he had attempted suicide and was in poor condition. He confessed to Natalia’s murder, and on 29 September 2023, he was sentenced to 13 years and 6 months in prison. The court cited his confession and cooperation as mitigating factors, sparing him a life sentence. Natalia’s family appealed for a harsher punishment, but the appeal was rejected in October 2023.