A man accused of murdering his landlord, eating his body and feeding parts of it to a 12-year-old girl, has reportedly died awaiting trial on murder charges.
Arkady Zverev confessed to killing Alexander Popovich, his 21-year-old landlord, in April 2018.
Russian police officers said the murder suspect had died after spending four months in a coma, following an attempt to take his own life.
Zverev died in hospital while under an armed guard, according to the Daily Mail.
Police officers detained him last year after they found Mr Popovich’s body in a house in Novinka, a village in Leningrad Oblast, Russia.
The corpse had been dismembered, with the limbs and head separated from the torso, according to the International Business Times.
Mr Popvich’s head was found in a stove, next to a frying pan.
An axe was also located next to the body.
Officers detained Zverev and Valeria, the 12-year-old girl who reportedly lived with him, shortly afterwards.
Officials had expected to charge him with the rape of a minor, after he confessed to having had sex with the child.
Zeverev also admitted to killing his landlord and was charged with murder.
He later told a Russian court that he had boiled and eaten the man’s eyeball, heart and brain.
Valeria also ate the body parts. She told police officers that she had used a frying pan to cook the victim’s heart.
She said ”the brains turned out to be much more tasty,” according to the Daily Mail.
The child is currently being held at a juvenile detention facility but is too young to be charged with any crimes.
The age of criminal responsibility in Russia is 16, though this is lowered to 14 for certain serious crimes such as murder, kidnapping and rape.
