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Russia’s Most Prolific Grave Robber Kept 29 Mummified Corpses of Little Girls in His Apartment

A man from Russia, Anatoly Moskin, earned notoriety as the most prolific grave robber in the world who kept mummified corpses in his apartment. His fascination with corpses and cemetery eventually led to a string of crimes.

He arrested by the police for digging up the graves of girls and young women. Moskvin made international headlines after 29 mummified corpses were found in his apartment.

Russia’s most prolific grave robber

Anatoly Moskvin had an interest in history and the dead. He would spend most of his time traveling to different cemeteries, even giving himself the title of ‘necropolyst.’ He would take notes of the history of deaths of the deceased from one cemetery to another.

His macabre fascination with corpses stemmed from his unfortunate experience during his teenage years. According to Moskvin, a group of men on their way to a funeral dragged him and forced him to kiss the corpse of an 11-year-old girl.

From 2005 to 2009, officials would get countless reports from residents about graves being dug-up in the cemetery. Highly-skilled investigators were invited to solve the case.

However, there were no leads to the perpetrator. Empty graves were seen in cemeteries but no suspect was discovered.

When a similar incident occurred in the cemetery where Moskvin frequently visits, the authorities finally linked him to the crimes.

The authorities found out about the secret of Moskvin and they were shocked to find 29 mummified corpses of girls when they entered his apartment. Moskvin was 45 years old at the time of his arrest.

Life-like dolls discovered in his apartment

Moskvin’s real life-like dolls were one of his life’s work. However, everyone who learned about the truth about those dolls were horrified to find out that they were actual corpses.

The dolls were mummified corpses of girls and young women between the ages of three and twelve. The corpses were covered with fabric. He used a salt and baking powder mixture to preserve the corpses.

Moskvin would even place music boxes inside these dolls. In some cases, he would place the hearts of the corpses on the chest of the mummified corpses.

Later investigation showed that some of the mummified dolls were with him for nearly a decade. He explained that he kept the mummified corpses as dolls because he longed for children.

However, he was not granted the opportunity to adopt. One reason was that he had no means to provide for an adopted child.

Moskvin was diagnosed with schizophrenia, according to Daily Mail. He was admitted to a psychiatric ward for treatment.