Editing Alexander Spesivtsev (section)

==Arrest and sentencing==

Spesivtsev's crimes were discovered by chance in October 1996, when plumbers sent to the apartment where he lived with his mother could not get access. They called the police to open the door. Inside they found the dismembered body of a girl in the bathtub, and a severely wounded girl, 14-year-old Olga G. Spesivtsev and his mother Lyudmila were immediately arrested.<ref name=kommersant>{{cite news |title=Семья каннибалов |url=https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/227031 |access-date=12 October 2024 |work=kommersant.ru |date=7 October 1999 |language=ru}}</ref>

Olga G. died soon after of her knife wounds, but before her death she told the investigators that Spesivtsev had killed two of her friends, forcing her to dismember the corpses. She also said that Lyudmila had cooked the victim's flesh for consumption by herself and her son; they had also fed some to their dog and forced the captive girls to eat it.<ref name=kommersant/>

In June 1996, the police had already found the buried bones of children, identified as belonging to at least 15 victims aged from three to fourteen. After his arrest, these were identified as possible victims of Spesivtsev, who indeed initially confessed to having murdered them, but later retracted his confession. In 1997, he was convicted for the murders of Olga G. and her two friends, but not for any other cases due to insufficient evidence. His mother was sentenced to 13 years in prison for having assisted him.<ref name=kommersant/><ref name=hall/>

Spesivtsev is permanently confined to the Kamyshin Regional Hospital.<ref name=hall/>