In 2015, Oleg Belov slaughtered his pregnant wife and six children after becoming enraged at his six year old son's 'parrot' haircut.

 In 2015, Oleg Belov slaughtered his pregnant wife and six children after becoming enraged at his six year old son's 'parrot' haircut.

In 2015, Oleg Belov slaughtered his pregnant wife and six children after becoming enraged at his six year old son's 'parrot' haircut and the fact his wife, Yulia, wanted a divorce. 

After his arrest, Belov said:

‘I took my hunting knife and approached her from behind. I stabbed her with a knife in her right side. I killed the children so that they would stay mine.’

'The Bible says that children will be resurrected. So I decided that the kids will resurrect, and we will live together again.'

He was eventually sentenced to life in prison.

The tragic event took a turn when on July 27, Oleg Belov stopped by the school to collect his children’s things, stating he was taking them to the countryside for the summer. This was the last time the children were seen alive. On August 4, officers from the Investigative Committee raided Belov’s apartment, where they found the bodies of seven people: six children and their mother. A few hours later, the body of the children’s grandmother—Oleg Belov’s own mother—was also discovered.

Oleg Belov was not just an ordinary man. He was 52 years old, unemployed, and disabled1. Until about 2007, he attended services at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. Belov was registered at the local mental hospital, and his family was formally regarded by local officials as underprivileged and in need of assistance. In 2011, Belov was suspected of abusing his own children, but the case was later dropped. In July 2015, Belov’s wife filed for a divorce and asked a judge to grant her full custody of their children, but her request was denied.

The aftermath of the tragedy led to a series of investigations. Investigators launched a criminal case against Igor Kriuchov, the head of the local children’s services department, accusing him of negligence. According to investigators’ statements to the press, local officials bear some of the responsibility for the massacre. Police also raided the offices of Seventh-day Adventist Church, both in Nizhny Novgorod and elsewhere. There were rumors that Belov’s mother-in-law insisted that he suffers from schizophrenia. Belov’s neighbors, meanwhile, said Belov and his wife used to get into heated arguments, and that his wife even asked for their help. Local reporters say Belov may be involved in the murder of a young woman in 2014, as well. There was also speculation that he was planning to murder his mother-in-law, when police apprehended him in Vladimir.