Victims
- Z
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Zielinski, Victoria
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Zakotnova, Lena
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Zielinski, Victoria
Edgar Smith was just 23 when found guilty of murdering Victoria Zielinski.
It was thought that she had rejected his advances and he had lost his temper
with her. Not surprising when you consider she was only 15 years
old. It was a fact that Smith knew the dead girl and he admitted
giving her lifts in his car. On the day in question Smiths car was
off the road and so he borrowed a friends car. When the police talked
to this man he told them that when Smith had returned the car to him he
had noticed blood in it.
When questioned Smith said that he had given the girl a lift out to
a nearby sandpit. He said they argued and so he had left her there.
He had seen her again later with her boyfriend Don Hommell. She had
been bleeding from the head and Hommell had told him that she had tripped.
Smith had tended the wound and in so doing had got her blood on his trousers.
When police questioned Hommell he had an alibi and so police arrested Smith
and charged him with the girls murder. Her body had been found in
the sandpit and she had been beaten so severely that her skull was smashed
like an egg spilling its contents over the sand.
He was tried in May 1957 and although most of the evidence seemed to
be circumstantial the jury were convinced and he was found guilty and sentenced
to death. He then embarked upon a long course of appeals,
13 to be exact and then in 1971 he was released. Less than 5 years
later he was back in court, this time being charged with kidnapping and
attempted murder. He was again found guilty and sent to prison, during
the trial he made a confession about the earlier murder.
Zakotnova, Lena
It was just three days before christmas on the 22nd December 1978.
Being winter it was already dark even though it was not yet six o'clock.
Lena had been skating since she had left school and was now on her way
home. She had the misfortune to bump into Andrei Chikatilo who was
a school teacher. What he said to her we will never know but she
went off with him to a rundown shack on the other side of town. As
soon as they were inside he turned on the light locked the door and attacked
her. He began by trying to rip her clothes off but she was not going
to give up easily and fought like a tiger. Chikatilo put his arm
around her throat and tightened his grip until she lost consciousness.
Picking up a knife he started to stab her repeatedly in the stomach.
It was as if he was in a frenzy. Once he had calmed down he was shocked
at what he had done. He knew he was in serious trouble so he picked
her body up and carried her outside. It was pitch dark and so he
was able to cross some waste ground to a river where he threw her body
into the water. She was not dead when she went into the water but
would have died from the serious stab wounds anyway.
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For more information contact:
Gregg Manning