Vasili Komaroff was known as the "Moscow Wolfe." He grew up and lived in Moscow's Shabolovki District. He maintained a stable of horses. His neigbors said, he was a friendly man, always smiling and happy. He was a regular Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Noone suspected him of being the elusive killer who terrorized the neighborhood and foiled the police in a two year manhunt. In the early 1920's, life was cheap in Russia, but times were tough. They were having a Revolution and Civil War. People there learned to live with fear and danger. From the latter part of 1921 through the early part of 1923, police pursued the brutal, cold-hearted killer of 21 male victims. Each body was found tightly bound in sacks, their bodies dumped in the waste grounds of the Shabolovki neighborhood. The corpses had been trussed up like Chickens, ready to be roasted. In most cases, the remains were found on a Thursday or Saturday. The victims later was discovered to come from the market crowds. They started focusing on the traders. Vasili rarely brought a horse to market, yet was seen leaving with some customers. It seemed like a coincidence, but they questioned Komaroff's neighbors. They learned the funny man had a nasty temper and a mean streak. At one time he tried to hang his eldest son, an 8 year old boy, but his wife intervened, and cut the struggling boy down. A raiding party visited Komaroff's stable, searching for bootleg liquor, and found his latest victim, trussed and bagged, beneath a pile of hay. He was immediately taken into custody and confessed his crimes. He confessed to murdering 33 prospective buyers. Luring them to his stables on phony promises of bargain prices. Robbery was cited as the motive. Though he barely made 80 cents a man, a total of $26.40 for the entire series of crimes. Vasili led his captors to the dumping grounds of five more corpses, lying in burlap bags. He disposed of half a dozen other victims in the Moskva River. Their remains were never found. The prisoner, Vasili Komaroff, tried suicide three times, while in captivity, unsuccessfully. He then entrusted the Court for a speedy trial and execution, knowing he was doomed to die. He told the reporters, "I am 52, I have had a good time, and I don't want to live any longer." When questioned on his crimes, he said..."It was an awfully easy job...I killed a man who tried to beat me in a horse trade. He was the only one who resisted. It was very easy. I just knocked them on their heads with a hammer or strangled them." His murder trial started on June 7th, 1923. His wife was also charged with murder, theorizing she had to have knowledge of the grisley murders. The proceedings were conducted in Moscow's huge Polytechnic Museum, to accommodate the public onlookers. The next day, June 8th, the Court condemned him to die, within the next three days. Going back to his Cell with armed guards, he quipped out loud, "Well it's my turn to be put in the sack now." They appealed, which gave him and his wife a brief stay or postponement, of the inevitable. On June 18th, they both were shot by a firing squad.