On May 18, 1996, on the outskirts of Tyumen, in the village of Antipin, the residents of the house found the body of Dmitry B. on the staircase. Two months later, on July 26, his friend Stas B. was found dead in a vacant lot. like teenagers, a friend of the teenagers, a 29-year-old student Tatiana, committed suicide.
Boris B., Stas's father, was sorting through his son's belongings when he came across strange drawings and notes made in an unknown language, all of an obviously occult nature. The man decided that the papers encoded the order and method of taking the teenagers' lives - in Boris's opinion, the death of his son was a murder, not a suicide, and this was preceded by some mysterious ritual.
With his conclusions, Stas's father went to the mothers of Dmitry and Sergei. The parents shared with each other the details that aroused their suspicions. For example, a neighbor of Sergey's family said that on the day of the teenager's death, an unknown woman in a bright red dress came to their entrance. At the same time, Sergei's mother recalled that shortly before that, her son said that in a dream "death appeared to him - a red lady who handed him a summons."
In addition, on the cassette tape where the video games were recorded (the teenagers played together on the computer "Quorum", for which the games were recorded on audio cassettes), while listening, the parents heard a woman's voice clearly say, "Twenty-ninth." This number coincides with the date of Sergei's death.
"Using the same methodology"
Law enforcement did not initially link the deaths. The parents sent a complaint to the prosecutor's office about the refusal to initiate a criminal case, in which they asked to combine the same type of suicides in Antipino, including the death of Tatiana, for verification.
According to the parents of the deceased, a number of miscalculations were made during previous inspections. For example, the investigators did not interrogate the elevator operator who was on duty on the day of Dmitry B.'s death – he could indicate whether the young man came to the house alone or in a company, since the day before the guy had a fight with a group of teenagers who could have been involved in his death.
In the experts' conclusion about the cause of death, there was no research part, the parents noted. Separately, they asked to check the death of Stas B.: the protocol of the examination of the place of death and the conclusion of the forensic expert contradicted each other, which caused the parents to doubt that the young man could have taken his own life. Also, the social circle of teenagers, neither informal friends, nor adult mentors were checked. Boris B., in particular, pointed out that his son went to take lessons from a certain "magician from Surgut".
The prosecutor's office conducted the inspection two years after the suicides, from February to August 1998. "According to the statements of the teenagers' parents, as well as information published in the media, in 1996 up to 30 teenagers died at the hands of 'Satanists' in Tyumen," the prosecutor's office said in a ruling. It notes that the deaths of young people occurred "according to the same type of methodology." At the same time, according to the agency, a total of 1996 such cases of suicide were registered in Tyumen in 149: "Of these, 7 cases were committed against minors, and 30 cases against persons under the age of 19."
The deaths of Tatiana, Stas B., Sergey S. and Dmitry B. were recognized as suicide. The guys did not have financial problems and conflicts that could lead to death, the document says. As part of the prosecutor's check in the city, they did not find any associations of Satanists that could instill thoughts of suicide in young people. "As a result of the investigation, there is no reason to believe that the cause of death was wrongful acts on anyone's part," the ruling says.
- © From the personal archive
Law enforcement agencies came to the conclusion that the suicides occurred "on the basis of personal experiences, a difficult life situation, as well as personal characteristics of the character." The deceased did not suffer from mental disorders, the resolution says. A post-mortem psychological and psychiatric examination established that the cause of death could have been "the peculiarity of interests and a system of values - a passion for magic and occultism."
"It's enough to start a wave"
According to the materials of the prosecutor's office, the teenagers, who had previously been united by joint listening to metal, video games, as well as the use of alcohol and drugs, were introduced to magic by their acquaintance.
"Stas B.'s passion for magic began on the initiative of D., who suggested that he engage in "magic" in order to "achieve perfection with higher beings." In the course of the classes, the teenagers used books that they purchased in stores and other outlets in Tyumen, newspaper publications, television and radio programs, and made notes based on what they read," the documents say.
According to the case file, an acquaintance of the teenagers stopped practicing the occult and magic in 1994, and "burned the books he used to study." At the same time, he himself told the investigation that the teenagers repeatedly intended to commit suicide because of problems with girls, conflicts with parents. However, the case file notes that on the eve of the death, none of the teenagers had grounds for suicide.
Judging by the documents of the investigation, the mission of recruiting new adepts was then taken over by Stas B. He tried to attract other friends, Vitaly and Alexei, to practice magic. According to the parents of the victims, the boys were also members of this occult circle and were identified as the next victims. After the death of the young people, one of them drank, and the other left Antipin, the media reported in the late 90s.
- © From the personal archive
According to psychologist Sergei Enikolopov, the structure of this group consisted of a leader and followers. "Most likely, there was a mentor who got acquainted with psychotechnicians. A series of suicides in such an environment is to be expected. If there was a group of people with similar interests, especially experience in taking drugs, then it is easy to turn them on. It is enough to be the first to launch a wave, and the rest will catch up," the expert explained to RT.
"Then the Demons Come"
"Now, Lord, you who enjoy sacrifices, remember all my sacrifices, remember all that I have done for you," wrote Stas B. (spelling and punctuation preserved, records are at the disposal of RT).
Judging by the teenager's notes, Antipin practiced mainly Enochian magic, and the mysterious writings that Stas's father could not decipher were the Enochian language used in spells. It is an occult practice that originated in the 16th century in England. She invites the adepts to establish contact with the angels and receive knowledge from them in exchange for a sacrifice that met the criteria for suicide.
In addition, the notebooks contained descriptions of some psychotechniques and types of meditation, which, according to Sergey Enikolopov, are difficult to control on your own. They could easily shake the adolescent psyche and push him to the irreparable. "First a person summons angels and communicates with them, and then demons come, and imagination is unstoppable," he said.
Given that no domestic motives could be found, the version that occult activities led to the suicides is most likely. However, it was not possible to identify the one who taught the teenager suicidal practices, which were quite rare at that time.
We would like to thank Alexei Kholopov, Head of the Forensic Laboratory of the St. Petersburg Law Institute (Branch) of the University of the Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation, Candidate of Law, Associate Professor, Senior Counselor of Justice, and Specialist in the Investigation of Ritual Murders, for his assistance in preparing this article.