Gave Voice: Yellow Chrysanthemum gang leader confesses to new episodes
A panel of jurors will consider a new criminal case against the leader of the Yellow Chrysanthemums gang, which killed merchants and robbed jewelry stores in Moscow in the 2000s. Sergei Balikhin, nicknamed Golos, had his own criminal pattern - he went to crimes with a bouquet of chrysanthemums and hid weapons in them. On his account more than a dozen robberies and murders, as well as two sentences, one of which was for life. Now the case has new episodes in which Balikhin confessed - the murder of a businesswoman in 2007 and a cab driver in 2010, told "Izvestia" in the Investigative Committee of the Investigation Department in Moscow.
Who is Sergei Balikhin
Moscow Regional Court on November 18 will consider new episodes of the criminal case of the leader of the gang "Yellow Chrysanthemums" Sergei Balikhin, sentenced in 2014 to life imprisonment for a series of robberies and murders.
In the 2000s, the gang terrorized the residents of the capital - committed robberies on pawnshops and jewelry stores, robbed passengers of electric trains, broke into the homes of merchants.
According to the materials of the criminal case, the gang killed their victims with particular cruelty with a gun, which the gang leader Balikhin, nicknamed Golos, hid in a bouquet of yellow chrysanthemums. As the criminal later admitted to the investigation, it was "convenient" for him to hide the gun in the bouquet.
As follows from the indictment and sentence, Golos spared no one during robberies, killing even women and children. Thus, in March 2009, the bandits broke into the apartment of businessman Oleg Palchuk in Zarev Proezd in Moscow (the man was engaged in the flower business) and brutally murdered him, his wife and minor child. The criminals took out of the dwelling property totaling more than 2 million rubles.
Two years earlier, in April 2007, Balikhin and other members of the gang broke into an apartment on Volzhsky Boulevard in Moscow, where they killed a 43-year-old businessman and stole more than 1 million rubles.
In November 2010, a seller of a trading pavilion on Oktyabrskaya Railroad Line Street became a victim of the gang. And in March 2011, the "chrysanthemums" attacked a pawnshop on Bryanskaya Street near Kievsky Railway Station and killed three employees.
In December of the same year, Golos with a bouquet of flowers attacked the jewelry store "Wedding" on Butyrskaya Street, during which the store director was killed. And in February 2012, a pensioner became a victim of bandits in Domodedovo near Moscow.
As follows from the case file, the criminals looked for victims who had money or had access to it. They carefully observed them, studied the places of alleged attacks and possible escape routes. In addition to bouquets of flowers, they used gloves and medical masks dyed with flesh-colored foundation.
Although the Voice has always tried to avoid CCTV cameras, many recordings of his attacks can now be found. Even from these silent black-and-white recordings, one can understand how confident and cold-blooded the perpetrator acted.
New episodes
At the first criminal trial, the investigation proved four attacks committed by the "Yellow Chrysanthemums" gang, which killed eight people.
On September 24, 2014, Sergei Balikhin was found guilty by a jury of organizing a stable armed group, illegal possession and carrying of firearms and ammunition, committing murder and robbery. Even then, the Mogorsud sentenced him to life imprisonment, and his accomplices to 14 and 19 years.
In 2017, when Golos was already serving his sentence in the Mordovian zone (a special regime colony for life prisoners), three more of his accomplices were detained, and eventually, based on their testimony, new episodes were imputed to Balikhin. A new trial was held, which sentenced the ringleader to 18 years in prison - in addition to a life sentence, and his subordinates - to terms of 17 to 23 years.
However, the criminal biography of Golos did not end there. In 2020, while there was an appeal on the second sentence, Balikhin confessed to two new murders, told "Izvestia" in the department for the investigation of especially important cases (on crimes of past years) of the State Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee for Moscow. This is the murder of a businesswoman from the Moscow suburbs village of Mendeleevo Solnechnogorsk district in December 2007 and a Moscow cab driver - in December 2020. Previously, the investigation was not aware of these episodes.
According to law enforcers, the woman who was killed by Golos, traded at the famous Tsaritsynsky radio market in Moscow in the 1990s - selling video cassettes, disks and cell phones. The potential victim was pointed out to Balikhin by one of his associates, whom the businesswoman had the misfortune to meet at one of the discos. About six months after the acquaintance, the bandits decided to find out how wealthy the potential victim was, and set up surveillance on her.
- They found out that she leaves the house for work at 7 a.m., armed themselves and waited outside her apartment for her to leave," the investigator said. - Using violence, they entered the apartment, tied her up and demanded money. Balikhin had a pistol and three live grenades with him - as he later explained, in case the police arrived. They took out household appliances, gold, watches and $3 thousand (about 200 thousand rubles).
The owner of the apartment, the investigator continued, was beaten and given the neuroleptic clozapine, pouring a whole bottle into the victim's mouth. The dose of the drug was fatal - the woman died of acute poisoning.
Motive for confession
The second episode occurred in December 2010, on the eve of the New Year holidays. Balikhin and his accomplice were riding in a cab and drinking alcohol on the way. The driver made a remark to them.
- Balikhin reacted instantly - took a knife out of his purse and stabbed him in the neck six times, - added in the State Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee for Moscow. - After that they got out of the car, took another cab and left without stealing anything.
On both episodes Balikhin wrote a confession, and it happened just during the appeal on the second sentence, while the criminal was in Moscow pre-trial detention center № 2 "Butyrka". According to the investigator, the motives for his unexpected revelations can only be assumed, but investigators do not rule out that one of the reasons could be the conditions of detention.
- They are not much better in Butyrka than in the Mordovian zone. Sometimes a person is ready to take on himself any episodes, as long as not to go there for a longer time, - said the investigators. - To exclude such self-incrimination, we checked each of these episodes. We took Balikhin to Solnechnogorsky district, he confidently showed the house and apartment where the crime took place.
In addition, the investigators conducted a situational examination to prove Golos's involvement in the murder of the cab driver. For this purpose, he showed on a mannequin how he delivered blows, and they fully coincided with the nature of the wounds indicated in forensic medical documents.
According to investigators, during the investigative experiments Balikhin was absolutely calm.
- There was not a shadow of excitement or regret on his face, as if what he was describing was a familiar routine or a matter of technique for him," the investigator said.
Mosobl court began to consider new episodes in 2022, but because Balikhin spent two months in the hospital, where he had surgery, the jury panel had time to disintegrate. The selection of a new jury will be held on November 18, the session will be closed, the court's press service told Izvestia.
What threatens the ringleader
For the episode with robbery, the maximum punishment for Balikhin may be 15 years in prison, for murder - 20 years, told "Izvestia" lawyer Ilya Drozdov of the law office "Makeev and Partners".
- The final punishment in such cases is usually imposed on the basis of the aggregate of previous sentences, but because of the life sentence, this rule is not applicable," the lawyer said.
According to him, according to the law, Golos may have the right to parole, but it will come not earlier than 2039, that is, 25 years after serving the sentence. And it will be satisfied only if the court recognizes that the convicted person has fully reformed during this time and does not need further serving of the sentence.
Emotional detachment is natural for criminal psychopaths, they do not feel sympathy for other people simply because they are not capable of it, Mark Sandomirsky, Doctor of Psychology and Candidate of Medical Sciences, an expert in psychodiagnosis of prisoners, told Izvestia.
- It is accepted that such a disorder is congenital and the causes are genetic," the psychologist said. - Scientists have not identified a special gene for cruelty, but a hereditary mechanism is definitely involved. Trauma and upbringing conditions can contribute to the formation, where a child sees cruelty from childhood and learns to act in the same way.
A convict for life has nothing to do in the special conditions in which he is kept. And then various judicial actions become a kind of entertainment for him, the expert believes.
By bringing those already convicted to responsibility, the state thereby shows that it does not turn a blind eye to the crimes committed under any circumstances, even if it does not affect the final sentence of the prisoner. This is extremely important, including for the victims, since they cannot be recognized as victims without initiating criminal proceedings, summarized Ilya Drozdov.
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