What happened
Sergey Golovkin was a Soviet and Russian serial killer who targeted boys and teenagers in the Moscow region during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The investigation
Investigators spent years trying to link disappearances and killings before Golovkin was identified and arrested in 1992.
What the courts or investigators concluded
He was convicted of multiple murders and sentenced to death. Golovkin was executed in 1996, shortly before Russia established a de facto moratorium on executions.
Why the case remains significant
His crimes remain among the most disturbing serial cases of the late Soviet period and exposed the challenges investigators faced when victims disappeared across different jurisdictions.
Case context
Crime by Region organizes cases geographically so readers can move from one file to other investigations from the same country. For unresolved or contested cases, the wording above reflects the distinction between confirmed events, investigative theories and findings actually established in court.