A man accused of being a “maniac nanny rapist and killer” has been spared a double murder trial by Vladimir Putin so he can fight in the war in Ukraine. Dmitry Artamoshin, 47, is alleged to be a “serial predator” who “drugged, sexually abused and beat” women he hired to care for his son, nine.
Alleged crimes and discovery of bodies
The “maniac” forced his “terrified” son to watch his rapes, and used violence on him if he disobeyed, according to harrowing evidence from Russian law enforcement. The bodies of Maria Vlasova, 25, and Alyona Bolotova, 19, were found in his garden, while other victims, including Anna Terentyeva, then 19, “fled,” according to evidence against him.
Officers found the corpses close to the suspect’s house in Bogorodsky, Moscow region after receiving vital clues from the suspect’s young son. One of the nannies was buried 7ft deep under compost, and the other in a well shaft.
Military service instead of trial
Despite being due to face charges of double murder, rape, violent sexual acts and drugging his victims, he has signed up for military service under Putin laws permitting serious crime suspects to go free as war fighters, reports say in Moscow. If he survives on the frontline, Artamoshin will be a free man.
The policy shows the scale of Putin’s desperation to find soldiers for his war. Artamoshin, known as the “Bogorodsky Manic,” was deemed "mentally competent” to fight despite being at the centre of a case which deeply shocked Russians, according to reports.
Impact on victims and family
His son, now ten, was traumatised, suffering from PTSD, and covered in scars and injuries, officers said. The boy was forced to drink “bad-tasting juice” that made him pass out—suspected to be the same drugged liquid given to the women.
Two other alleged nanny victims including Anna Terentyeva, 20, fled, as did the boy’s mother, Artamoshin’s wife, Polina Fomicheva, 36, who faced “violence, including sexual abuse, beating and coercing into drug use”. Terentyeva alleged she was “between life and death three times.” Artamoshin initially “made a pleasant impression,” she told journalists.
Police have appealed for any other nannies to come forward, fearing there may be more victims. The suspect poisoned, beat, raped and separately sexually abused women he hired as nannies before trapping them inside his property in the Zvezda gardening community, it was alleged after he was detained. At least one of his alleged rape and sexual violence victims was under 18 at the time.
He “recruited the women through online advertisements for nannies.” “We had no idea what was happening. He just looked like a normal gardener with a school-age child,” said a neighbour. Artamoshin was charged with the murders of Vlasova and Bolotova even before their bodies had been found. He was shown on video being taken to an alleged crime scene. Artamoshin potentially faced life imprisonment if convicted. But reports today say he has signed a contract with Putin’s defence ministry.
Earlier, he worked as a used car salesman, advertising himself as ‘The Great One’. News outlet Shot said that he was “obsessed” with numerology, especially the number 27. The two missing women disappeared on the 27th of separate months. His birthday was on August 27.
