Story By: Feza Uzay, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency:  Newsflash

A Russian serial killer who murdered three drinking buddies and ate the choice cuts from their bodies before chucking the rest in a river has been jailed for life.

Eduard Seleznev, 51, from the city of Arkhangelsk in the north-western Russian region of Arkhangelsk Oblast, was convicted of killing three friends between March 2016 and March 2017.

Known as the ‘Arkhangelsk Cannibal’, a lower court sentenced him to life imprisonment, but his lawyers appealed the decision and now the highest court in Russia has confirmed the sentence.

He admitted during his trial that he boiled his drinking buddies’ bodies and used their cooked remains as food after stabbing them when they passed out from drinking too much alcohol.

The victims, aged 59, 43 and 34, were sliced up to remove the best parts he wanted to eat, which were then stored in plastic bags with the rest dumped in a local river.

The court heard that his bizarre eating habits also included cooking local cats and dogs as well as birds and other small animals found on the streets.

He even moved into the apartment of one of them and told the man’s parents that their son had gone to work in another city.

He told the same story to police officers who started a missing person investigation.

The situation was easier with the other two victims as they apparently had no relatives asking awkward questions about where they were.

When the bodies were eventually discovered, police said the advanced state of decay and the condition after they had been partially cut up made them difficult to identify.

Reports said the defendant was charged with double murder in the past and although convicted, he was released after serving 13 years in jail.

The Russian criminal code does not include cannibalism so the defendant was on trial for murder and misusing the victims’ body parts.

He was ordered to stand trial after psychiatrists declared him sane and fully responsible for his actions.

The Russian Supreme Court, after re-evaluating all the evidence, has sentenced Seleznev to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

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