Vasily Alexandrovich Smirnov was born on November 30, 1947, in the Soviet Union. He was the only child in his family and grew up in a deeply troubled home. His father died while Smirnov was still young, and his mother became obsessively protective. She constantly praised him and reinforced a false sense of superiority, while at the same time isolating him from the outside world. He was not allowed to associate with peers, attend social gatherings, or form healthy relationships, particularly with girls.

This stifling environment took a psychological toll on Smirnov. As he reached adolescence, he began to display disturbing behaviors. At the age of 18, he violently attacked his own mother with a hammer and attempted to sexually assault her. She resisted, and he was not charged at the time. After completing mandatory military service, Smirnov committed his first known sexual crime, the rape of an elderly woman. He was arrested and imprisoned for this offense, but during his time behind bars, he himself became a victim of sexual assault by another inmate. While serving his sentence, his mother died, severing his last emotional tie.

The killing spree of Vasily Smirnov began on September 3, 1979, when the mutilated body of 8-year-old Marina Koshkina was found on the banks of the Izhora River. The child had been raped and murdered in a horrific manner. Investigators discovered a nail driven into her skull. He had threatened the girl to keep quiet, and when she refused, he killed her.

The Soviet police launched an intensive investigation but struggled to identify the perpetrator. Fear gripped the Gatchina region, and rumors of a bloodthirsty "vampire" began circulating. Shortly afterward, the body of a young boy named Andrei Lopatin was discovered near Silver Lake. He had been raped and stabbed, and Smirnov had reportedly attempted to cut flesh from his body to consume it. However, a passing cyclist interrupted him, and he fled the scene.

Smirnov’s brutality escalated rapidly. He raped women across the region — many of whom never reported the attacks to authorities due to shame or fear. One of his next known victims was an elderly woman believed to be wealthy. Smirnov not only raped and murdered her, but decapitated her, looted her home, and then set it on fire to destroy evidence.

He next traveled to Petergof, where he raped a pregnant woman. She survived but did not report the crime. Smirnov soon returned to Gatchina, where he raped and murdered Tatyana Emshova, a visiting schoolteacher and mother of two, who had come for a professional seminar. Her murder triggered another widespread search.

Around this time, one of Smirnov’s rape victims came forward, stating she had been attacked on the same day as Emshova’s murder. Through her testimony and comparisons to previous criminal records, authorities linked the assault to Smirnov’s past conviction. Police raided his home, only to find it had been burned down — a possible attempt by Smirnov to fake his death or destroy evidence.

Before he could escape further, Smirnov committed another daylight attack, this time targeting a group of children. He raped one of the girls in broad daylight. The boldness of the act helped police track him quickly, and he was finally arrested in 1980.

In custody, Smirnov confessed to five murders, including one that had previously been misclassified as a traffic accident. In that case, he had raped and killed an elderly woman, staged her death as a car crash, and discarded her belongings on the road. His pattern of driving nails into the heads of his victims was verified by forensic evidence.

Smirnov remained emotionless throughout the trial and even bragged about his crimes. When informed that he had been sentenced to death, he simply stated that he was “above the law.” He never showed remorse or regret. In 1980, he was executed by firing squad.