Vlado Taneski
Vlado Taneski | |
|---|---|
| Born | Vlado Taneski 1952 SFR Yugoslavia |
| Died | June 23, 2008 (aged 56) |
| Cause of death | Suicide |
| Other names | The Kičevo Monster |
| Details | |
| Victims | 3–4 |
Span of crimes | 2005–2008 |
| Country | Macedonia |
Date apprehended | June 22, 2008 |
Vlado Taneski (
Personal life
Vlado Taneski was born in 1952 in
Taneski initially worked at a radio station, while Vesna went on to become Kičevo's first female lawyer. By the 1980s he worked as a reporter for
Murders
Taneski's victims were:
- Mitra Simjanoska (64) – disappeared November 16, 2004 after a trip to the market; found January 12, 2005. She had been strangled, bound, tortured, and raped, and had been dead for less than two weeks.
- Ljubica Licoska (56) – disappeared in early November 2007 after going to buy groceries; found on February 3, 2008. She had been strangled, bound, beaten, and raped, and had been dead for only a few days.
- Zivana Temelkoska (65) – disappeared on May 7, 2008 after a hoax about her son being hospitalised; found on May 16. She had been tortured, raped, strangled, and was bound with telephone cords.
All these women were poor, uneducated cleaners, which was also how Taneski's mother had earned a living. The victims had known Taneski's mother personally, which may have been the reason for their selection as victims.[3]
Investigation and suicide
Taneski came under suspicion for murder after having written articles about the three murders and was questioned on several occasions. According to police, Taneski's articles contained information which had not been released to the public. For example, differing from all other reports published in the Macedonian press on the murders, Taneski knew that the killer used a telephone cord to bind Temelkoska and that the same cord was left at the scene by the murderer.[2]
Taneski was arrested on June 20, 2008, after his DNA was matched to semen found on the victims.[6] Examination of the Taneski family's rural cottage uncovered a cache of pornographic material, ropes and cords matching those used to tie the victims, and items belonging to the victims.[2] Taneski was charged with the murder of two of the women, and the police were preparing to charge him with the murder of the third. Details of the case were printed on June 21, and police were also planning to question Taneski on the May 30, 2003, disappearance of the 73-year-old retired cleaner, Gorica Pavleska. After being transferred to Tetovo, Taneski was found dead in his shared prison cell on June 23. He had apparently drowned in a plastic bucket of water. An inquest concluded that, in the absence of other evidence, his death was suicide.[3][4]
See also
- Wallace Souza – Brazilian journalist accused of setting up murders for ratings
- John Wayne Glover – nicknamed the "Granny Killer"
- Karol Kot – a Polish serial killer
- List of serial killers by country
References
- ^ Testorides, Konstantin (2008-06-24). "'Serial Murder' journalist commits suicide". The Independent. London. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Case 108: The Kicevo Monster". Casefile: True Crime Podcast. 2019-03-02. Retrieved 2019-03-20.
- ^ a b c Smith, Helena (2008-06-24). "The shocking story of the newspaper crime reporter who knew too much". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
- ^ a b Bilefsky, Dan (2008-06-24). "Macedonian Murder Suspect Dead in Cell". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
- ^ "Ubio se makedonski novinar ubojica Vlado Tanevski". Index.hr (in Croatian). 23 June 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2014.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-03-20.