Dnepropetrovsk Maniacs - Murders - Arrest and Trial

Arrest and Trial

The three suspects Viktor Sayenko (Ukrainian: Віктор Саєнко, Russian: Виктор Саенко), Igor Suprunyuck (Ukrainian: Ігор Супрунюк, Russian: Игорь Супрунюк) and Alexander Hanzha (Ukrainian: Олександр Ганжа, Russian: Александр Ганжа) were arrested on July 23, 2007. Suprunyuck attempted to sell a mobile phone stolen from a victim in a local pawn shop, asking for 150 hryvnia (about US $20). Law enforcement agents tracked the phone's location. Suprunyuck and Sayenko were arrested near the cash register of the shop. Hanzha was arrested at home, reportedly managing to flush other stolen mobile phones down the toilet. The phones were recovered, but all information on them was lost.

The three men were charged with involvement in 29 separate incidents, including 21 murders and eight more attacks where victims survived. Suprunyuck was charged with 27 of the cases, including 21 counts of capital murder, 8 armed robberies, and 1 count of animal cruelty. Sayenko was charged with 25 instances, including 18 murders, 5 robberies and 1 count of animal cruelty. Hanzha was charged with two counts of armed robbery stemming from a March 1, 2007 incident in Dniprodzerzhynsk.

All three confessed quickly, although Suprunyuck later withdrew his confession. Their trial began in June 2008. Suprunyuck pleaded not guilty, while the other two suspects pleaded guilty to all charges. Viktor Chevguz, Suprunyuck's original defense lawyer, left the case after reportedly being disappointed that his client's plea of insanity was not accepted. Lawyers for the victims' families argued that the level of care taken by the killers during their crime spree meant that they were fully aware of their actions.

Prosecution evidence included bloodstains on the suspects' clothing and video recordings of the murders. The defense denied that the people in the videos were the suspects, claiming serious problems with the investigation, including at least 10 more murders covered up by the prosecution, supposed cover-ups of additional arrests of people with powerful connections who were released without being charged, even naming some of the additional people supposedly involved with the murders. The case was heard by a panel of judges chaired by judge Ivan Senchenko. The prosecution asked for life imprisonment for Sayenko and Suprunyuck, and 15 years of hard labor for Hanzha. Ukraine has no capital punishment since February 2000 after the Constitutional Court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional in December 1999.