'Ordinary Housewife' Mum, Husband And Daughters Carried Out Killing Spree Of 30 Murders In Russia

'Ordinary Housewife' Mum, Husband And Daughters Carried Out Killing Spree Of 30 Murders In Russia
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An 'ordinary housewife' and her family tortured and killed at least 30 people and carried out countless robberies in Russia.

Inessa Tarverdiyeva, 46, and her dentist husband Roman Podkopaev, 35, carried out a ruthless spree of murders, along with Inessa's daughters, Viktoria Tarverdiyeva, 25, and 13-year-old daughter Anastasiya.

Police in the Rostov region said Podkopaev died in a shootout with police and Viktoria was seriously wounded when the middle-class gang were finally arrested.

Six policemen were among their murder victims in a spree which began in earnest six years ago, though some offences go back to 1998.

They saw their murders and robbery like 'going to the office for a day's work', said Inessa.

She told police: "I am a gangster by nature." Killing was a 'means of earning money'.

Police said she looked 'like an ordinary housewife'.

In one 2009 murder, the group murdered paratrooper Dmitry Chudakov, his wife Irina and son Sasha, seven, with a Saiga .410 semi-automatic gun.

The couple's daughter Veronika, 11, was knifed 37 times. The vicious gang overpowered the family in their car at a lay-by and made off with a laptop, a hairdryer and a camera, together worth £950.

One another occasion the gang cruelly tortured and killed two teenage girls, gouging out their eyes.

Inessa, who confessed to killing adults, claimed: "It was not me who killed the children. My husband shot them."

Also arrested as part of the family crime gang were Podkopaev's sister, Anastasiya Sinelnik, 26, and her husband Sergei, 31, a former traffic policeman.

They are suspected of aiding and abetting the crime family, which used camping trips as a cover for their murderous activities.

Detectives believe they had inside knowledge of police operations and a handwritten diary contains details of officers' movements.

Searches of their homes revealed an arsenal of 20 firearms, including automatic rifles, grenades, shotguns, silencers and ammunition.

Other items stolen from their victims were also discovered, said the Russian Investigation Committee &151; their equivalent of the FBI.

The family had a comfortable home in Stavropol region but travelled to the neighbouring Rostov region to commit their crimes.

A police patrol stopped Podkopaev and Viktoria soon after their final robbery.

Patrolman Ivan Shakhovoi was shot dead and policeman Aleksey Lagoda was wounded in the shootout.

Inessa and her younger daughter were seized by police at a camp site where they were guarding a huge haul of weapons.