Vasily Nikolayevich Bolgarov (; born 1985), known as The Gagarin Killer (), is a Russian serial killer who killed four women in Gagarin and Smolensk between 2001 and 2010. After he was released on parole for a double murder, he proceeded to murder two other women in a few days, but was quickly recaptured. For his new crimes, he was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. Early life Little is known about Bolgarov's early life. Born and raised in Gagarin, he studied up until the 9th grade, after which he quit school due to his poor performance. He never got a job and lived with his parents. At the age of 16, he murdered two women and was imprisoned for the crime for several years. In April 2010, Bolgarov was released on parole and settled in Gagarin with a woman he had met while still in jail. The couple lived by modest means, with most of their income supplied by a cousin of Bolgarov who worked in the United States. Although described as hot-tempered, Bolgarov's girlfriend claimed that he was never violent, and was a kind and cheerful man, known by his affectionate name "Kot". Unbeknownst to her, he contacted various girls on Odnoklassniki using various pseudonyms, whom he would ask out on dates. Two women would respond to his offers, and they would later become his murder victims. Evgenia Shamruk The first woman to respond to Bolgarov was 30-year-old Evgenia Shamruk, a Gagarin local. She was a graduée of the Institute of Arts who worked at a library, and was looking for a boyfriend online. The two began communicating often via Skype, and later on, they exchanged mobile numbers. On July 8, 2010, Shamruk invited Bolgarov over to her house. He came dressed up in a nice suit and with a bouquet of flowers, at first knocking on the wrong apartment before finding Shamruk's. The pair then went on a walk around the city, before they returned to Bolgarov's house, where they chatted and drank wine. Around midnight, he offered to escort her back to her house, which Shamruk accepted. At the house, while searching the cupboards for some tea, Bolgarov noticed a nylon cord on one of the shelves. He then grabbed Shamruk and tied her up, moving her to a nearby closet, where he subsequently strangled her. After reassuring himself that she was dead, he stole her purse,