The Kopeysk Maniac: The Life and Crimes of Vyacheslav Yaikov

Forensic expert and bestselling author of “Autopsy Will Tell” Алексей Решетун invites you to plunge into a terrifying chronicle of one of the most perplexing investigations of the early 2000s. On 23 May 2003, in Kopeysk, the bodies of two strangled graduating students were found in school uniforms—a crime that turned out to be a link in a chain of six murders. In every case, the victims were women.

The audiobook, step by step, shows how the investigation unfolded and what challenges investigators, forensic experts, and psychiatrists faced. Against the backdrop of the investigation, the stark reality of a mining town and its criminal atmosphere comes into view.

At the center of the story is Вячеслав Яиков, who was detained at the scene of the last killing. His fate is a dramatic account of a man with severe mental disorders whose life became a grim backdrop for a series of brutal crimes. The book examines the features of his condition, the alleged motives and methods of action, as well as the desperate attempts of his mother to protect her son in court.

This is not only a story about a serial killer, but also a reflection on how social environment and circumstances can push toward the formation of criminal tendencies.