Saint Petersburg, Russia-
If you just so happened to meet 67 year old Tamara Samsonova on the street, it’s very unlikely you would ever think she’s a cold blooded serial killer. But that’s exactly what the seemingly sweet grandmother is – and if that wasn’t bad enough there’s evidence she’s a cannibal to boot.
In July of 2015 the headless torso of an elderly lady was found by some dogs at a pond; soon more body parts were discovered outside a nearby apartment building. Police decided to watch CCTV videos of the area, and that’s how this innocent looking pensioner was caught: Tamara was on tape carrying several large trash bags and a cooking pot out of her apartment. There were so many bags that she had to make a half dozen trips. Some of these bags were so heavy Tamara had to drag them, which left bloody streaks on the pavement. Yep, these bags were filled with the severed body parts of Tamara’s roommate, 79 year old Valentina Ulanova. Oh, and that pot Tamara had carried from her apartment contained Valentina’s severed head.
During a search of the apartment police struck gold again: they found Tamara’s diary. She had kept detailed records of multiple murders she had committed throughout the past 2 decades which totaled up to 13 though many believe that number to be low.
Tamara would often offer her victim to move in with her, but the minute they pissed her off she would kill them. Some of these victims may have been younger men lured in by a femme fatale – Tamara had been quite the looker back in her day.
Tamara liked to sedate her victim by tampering with their food. When they were out for the count she would cut them into pieces with a hacksaw. We know that in Valentina’s case she was definitely alive when the dismemberment began. It is believed that Tamara often ate her victim’s remains after boiling their body parts on her stove. In Valentina’s case, she’d cooked the head and hands. Tamara also liked to keep the organs, it’s noted that her favorite part of the body seemed to be the lungs. Whichever body parts Tamara didn’t use would be carried out of her apartment in trash bags and dumped in various spots; sadly her favorite dumping grounds have been renovated so there’s little chance of recovering those remains.
It’s believed that some of Tamara’s earlier victims included her husband and his mother who went missing back in ’05. She’d told everyone that hubby had been having an affair and left her for the other woman. No one thought too much of it back then, not until the other murders came to light.
Though the serial killer never would say exactly how many lives she claimed or even give a good reason as to why, she does admit to the act of killing. About murdering Valentina she said: “I came home and put the whole pack of Phenazepamum, 50 pills, into her Olivier salad. She liked it very much. I woke up after 2 a.m. and she was lying on the floor. So I started cutting her to pieces.” Police even had her reenact Valentina’s murder, showing step by step exactly how it happened.
Tamara has admitted that she enjoyed killing, she made no bones about it. Maybe that’s why she did it? Maybe she enjoyed the cannibalism, or the powerful feeling which came with taking a life? Some people believe there’s more to it than that: Tamara kept books on astrology and magic. Some investigators believe that she may have killed some of her victims as part of a ritual.
Due to Tamara’s lengthy history of mental illness (she’s been institutionalized multiple times for schizophrenia) she has been sentenced to a mental institution for the rest of her life. She has really gotten a kick out of her new found celebrity – she looked so innocent blowing kisses at the camera while on her way to court.
