19-year-old Alexander Koryakov entered a kindergarten in Gulbene where he chopped three girls to death with a meat cleaver. He also killed a teacher and wounded a nurse, before trying to escape. After his arrest he told police that he wanted to become as famous as Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo. Koryakov was sentenced to life imprisonment in December 1999.

Alexander Koryakov

Alexander lived in a small town called Gulbene, which is about 120 miles east of Riga, the capital of Latvia. His age has been given as both 19 and 21 in the papers, so I'll let you decide which sounds best.

It seems that he was more than a little obsessed with one of the best serial killers in history - Andre Chikatilo. He wanted more than anything else to become as famous (or infamous) as Chikatilo, and was willing to do anything to get there. Apparently he studied everything he could get his hands on about his idol, although when you get to the bottom of this page you'll wonder how these murders are even related to Chikatilo's.

So eventually the time was right for Koryakov. He went out and purchased a hunting knife, two meat cleavers and some gas spray. He then began staking out the local kindergarten, obviously with only one intention in mind. In the week prior to the murders he even rang the school to find out where all the russian speaking children worked. He obviously had something definite in mind.

On either the 21st or 22nd of February (depending upon which newspaper you read), 1999 Koryakov struck. He entered the kindergarten during nap time. He then crept up to a group of girls (all russian speaking) and began to hack away at them with the cleavers.

Obviously this would have caused a great deal of mess - and more than likely a little bit of noise, and a teacher came running to the aid of the young girls. She decided to be a hero and jump in between Koryakov and the young children, which did save the kids for a few seconds as he hacked her into some rather large meaty chunks. He then turned his attention back to the young girls. But as soon as he started swinging again the school nurses jumped in. Not surprisingly she also found herself being minced by the crazy young man, but it would seem that she did fight him off quite well. Realizing that there were too many hero's at the school he decided it was time to flee.

Unfortunately for Koryakov he ran straight into the police's arms, ending his planned 'reign of terror' before it even had a chance to get off the ground.

Once police had a chance to check out the kindergarten they found three girls (aged either 3 or 4) dead. The girls teacher, 32 year old Anzhelika Zhvigure, was also dead. The school nurse was badly injured, but survived.

When Police questioned Koryakov he willingly told them all his plans, apparently he was very eager to brag about his deeds. He told them that the kindergarten massacre was going to be the first of many murders, in fact it would begin a spree that would end with him claiming more victims than the great Chikatilo.

He also told them that he had been planning the murders for over a year, and that he had even though about killing his family as practice for the main event.

He apparently decided against this as he thought he would be caught to early in his crime spree - as if that would happen.

The Wacky World of Murder

Alexander Koryakov

February 23, 1999

Three children and a teacher were hacked to death with a meat cleaver in a kindergarden in the town of Gulbene, 115 miles northeast of the capital Riga. The children girls aged 4, 5 and 6 were killed by the Alexander Koryakov who slipped into the kindergarten room while they were napping. The teacher was killed when she tried to stop the massacre. A nurse at the school was also injured in the attack. Koryakov, 21, was arrested as he tried to flee the area.

Latvian President Guntis Ulmanis said on national TV that the murders were one of the worst acts of violence in their country in recent years. He said new security measures for schools should be considered.

Alexander Koryakov

February 24, 1999

The man who confessed to the brutal stabbing deaths of three small girls and their teacher at a Latvian kindergarten told police he wanted to become as famous as Andrei Chikatilo. The daily Diena said Aleksandr Koryakov told police that he wanted the kindergarten massacre to be the start of a killing spree that would make him as notorious as the infamous Russian cannibal killer.

"(Koryakov) had carefully studied all available materials on...murders carried out by the Russian criminal Chikatilo," Diena quoted Gulbene Police Chief Gunars Betlers as telling journalists. The newspaper said Koryakov had planned the massacre for a year and had even considered killing members of his family first to test his resolve, though he later decided against this. Two before the killing he went to Riga to buy a hunting knife, two meat cleavers and gas spray.

Teachers said Koryakov, a Russian speaker, had called the school to ask where the Russian children were kept. All of the children he killed were Russian speakers.