Woman Raped, Killed By Former Soldier, Convict Using Ride-Sharing App

A Russian woman gave an ex-soldier ride in her car and the latter ended up raping and murdering her.

Irina Akhmatova, 29, a mother of three and the owner of two Burger King restaurants in Moscow, was tricked by a fake profile set up by Vitaly Chikirev, 39, an ex-special services soldier, on a ride-sharing app called BlaBlaCar.

Investigators said there was no way for the victim to know that Chikirev was a divorced man reportedly having four children with three women and several previous convictions for rape and armed robbery. He had set up multiple male and female profiles with the sole objective of scoring rides with anonymous riders and robbing them, Mail Online reported.

Akhmatova, who thought of getting company as she drove back 115 miles from Moscow to Tula, Russia, where her husband and eight-year-old daughter lived, was found dead in a forest. The timeline of her death is unclear.

After a week of Akhmatova going missing, Chikirev was detained by the police and in a videotaped interrogation, confessed to strangling and killing her. He, however, evaded questions about whether he had raped her before the murder. The police, however, did maintain that the victim was raped before being killed. Immediately after being arrested, he reportedly told the police that he was being detained for the “murder” of “some girl” whose name he did not know,

Chikirev, who was convicted of the murder, also intended to steal the victim’s Audi car and sell it and flee with the cash and jewelry in her possession after killing her, police said. However, he ended up abandoning the vehicle following the incident and made away with just 100 pounds from her purse.

The Audi – a model 4 – was found by authorities covered in snow in a supermarket car park in Yaroslavl, 170 miles in the opposite direction from Moscow. According to the police, Chikirev’s plan to sell the car went haywire when he heard that a massive manhunt was organized to locate him.

Chikirev had apparently tried booking places in the victim’s car using all sorts of aliases. Following his divorce, the man had also posted on social media that he was looking for “a new wife with a good income aged 18 to 27, at least 170cm (five feet, six inches) tall, breast cup size not less than B, who takes care of herself.”

“I don't smoke or drink alcohol, I know how to inspire a woman to earn money. I am preparing myself for marriage! I promise – love, sex, care, comfort, and inspiration. What I want from you – only to support a family,” his message added.

His message came with a disclaimer, asking women with low income not to contact him. The same went for women who lived with their parents, “don't have your own apartment, are fat or old, can't find a man, or feminist or lesbian.”