Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova: The Ruthless Noblewoman's Reign of Terror

A serial killer more brutal than one can imagine: Russian noblewoman Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova tortured countless servants, mostly women, to death in the mid-18th century. Estimates suggest she had between 26 to 138 victims. Despite rumors circulating about Saltykova's reign of terror in the vicinity of her estate, it took several years before she was held accountable for her crimes. The grim price for her deeds was being locked away in a dark dungeon, where she died 33 years later.

BACKGROUND

Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova was born into a wealthy noble family and married Gleb Alexeyevich Saltykov, with whom she had two sons. Following her husband's early demise, she inherited numerous estates and became the mistress of thousands of servants.

KILLING SPREE

The exact start of Saltykova's heinous acts remains unknown, but it is clear that she primarily unleashed her rage upon female servants on one of her estates near the city of Podolsk. She tortured her victims, falsely claiming they had not performed their duties adequately. Saltykova would beat the women with wooden beams or hot irons - with only two male victims - and leave them bound outdoors in the cold for hours or days, allowing them to starve or freeze to death. No method of torture was too cruel for her. Her accomplices would dispose of the numerous corpses by carriage, claiming they were the bodies of deceased peasants.

When rumors of a murderous landowner began circulating in the area, the police were informed. However, instead of accusing Saltykova, her influential connections, reaching all the way to the top, often resulted in the prosecutors being punished. Furthermore, physical abuse of peasants by landowners was commonplace during that era.

REVELATION OF THE ATROCITIES

It was not until Catherine the Great came to power, disapproving of such practices, that action was taken against Saltykova. Years of investigation and countless witnesses being questioned followed. Alongside Saltykova's crimes, the widespread corruption within the police force was gradually revealed. In the end, on June 12, 1768, Saltykova was charged with 38 crimes - with at least 75 reported deaths. To avoid arousing the Russian nobility against her, Catherine the Great refrained from imposing the death penalty.

Instead, Saltykova was publicly humiliated for an hour on Moscow's Red Square, with a sign that read "Torturer and Murderer." She was stripped of her noble title and lost all her possessions. Subsequently, she spent the remainder of her life in a dark underground cell at the St. John the Baptist Monastery in Moscow. On December 26, 1801, 33 years after her imprisonment, she passed away in her subterranean cell.

The records from that time do not provide details about Saltykova's mental health.

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