Deranged: In court after being remanded in custody Samsonova (pictured) told assembled journalists: ?I knew you would come? It?s such a disgrace for me?
But that?s not even the worst of it.
The murder of Valentina Ulanova, 79, was gruesome enough. But when police in St Petersburg found her headless body near a pond they linked the crime to her carer Tamara Samsonova, 68.
What followed was the unravelling of a murder spree that took place over two decades and unmasked a serial killer who may have taken delight in cutting up her victims ? and eating them.
A search of her flat not only revealed diaries where she proudly detailed her crimes but a sharp knife, and blood smears in the bathroom.
Several unsolved murders are now being investigated for possible links to Samsonova, who has been dubbed the ?Granny Ripper?.
Russian tabloids have gone a step further and labelled her Baba Yaga ? a terrifying supernatural old woman from Slavic folklore.
If her diary entries are any anything to go by the names?s she?s been given probably don?t go far enough.
Samsonova has written of her exploits in her diary and even confessed to police directly about her monstrous crimes, reports New York?s Daily News. So far though, they have no idea why caused the senior citizen to act in the way she has.
It?s also possible she ate her victims body parts as well, after she reportedly had a liking for cutting out internal organs and eating them.
Lungs were her favourite.
Asked about the cannibalism claims a police source would only say it ?wasn?t being excluded?, the Mail Online reported, but detectives strongly suspect she also ate some body parts she removed from the people she killed, including their arms and legs.
She has written of there being at least 11 victims but has not gone into too much detail, aside from her diary entries, and she has not revealed where Ms Ulanova?s head has been hidden.
St. Petersburg detective Mikhail Timoshatov told Britain?s The Sun newspaper: ?Tamara Samsonova says that at first she made her friend sleep ? and then cut her into pieces.?
The former hotel worker has so far not shown any remorse, and a bizarre exchange with reporters in court reveals she may have known she?d eventually get caught.
When she appeared before a judge, Samsonova seemed more concerned that media were there to report her case which meant her neighbours in St Petersberg would find out what she is charged with.
??I knew you would come ? It?s such a disgrace for me, all the city will know,? she told journalists in court.
She went on to say: ?I was getting ready for this court action for dozens of years. It was all done deliberately ? There is no way to live. With this last murder I closed the chapter,? according to the Daily News.
The murders took place over 20 years but she was finally arrested after the discovery of Ms Ulanova?s body and CCTV footage captured her CCTV cameras removing her body in a black plastic bag.
Samsonova is alleged to have given Ulanova an overdose of sleeping pills before dismembering her body with a hacksaw ? while she was still alive.
She told police an argument over unwashed cups led to the murder.
The identity of two other possible victims have already emerged. A headless, legless and armless man?s body was found on the same street 12 years ago and his business card was found in Samsonova?s home.
Police also fear her husband, who she reported missing in 2005, is one of the 11 victims she boasted about in her diary. He has never been found.
All police have to go on are the diary entries and trying to figure fact from fiction. In among the apparent confessions are mundane notes that wouldn?t be out of place anywhere else, including references of not being able to sleep and drinking too much coffee.
Except they are woven around talk of dismembering and discarding the body parts of people she knew.
In court, the judge asked the Granny Ripper her thoughts about being jailed.
Her reply was as matter-of-fact as her macabre diary.
?You decide, your honour. After all, I am guilty and I deserve a punishment.?
News.com.au
