| “ | After you are dead, I'm going to take small chunks out of your son, slowly and painfully, until he is begging for death. And then I will put his mouth on sidewalk, and I will curb him until there is nothing left but mush. And then I will continue what I was doing before you stopped me, and every person that I kill for the rest of my life, their blood will be on your hands, Jack Garrett. Now how is that for delusions of grandeur? | ” |
— Antakov to Garrett
| ||
Oleg Antakov, a.k.a. "The Ripper of Riga" or simply "The Ripper", was a KGB torturer and interrogator active in Soviet Latvia who used his skills to become a prolific serial killer in post-Communist Russia. He appeared in the Season Two episode "The Ripper of Riga" on Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders.
Background[]
Antakov was a high-ranking KGB agent and the head interrogator of a Soviet secret torture base in Riga, Latvia. His signature move was to mutilate his victims with a metallic biting device of his own device, the "Metal Fang", which earned him his nickname of "The Ripper of Riga". Antakov lost his career and was disgraced with the fall of the USSR and the dissolution of the KGB in December 1991. Once he returned to Russia, he began to abduct, mutilate, and kill random people with the Metal Fang for his own amusement. The crimes were investigated by Russian detective Boris Poshakov with the unofficial assistance of FBI agent Jack Garrett, leading to Antakov's arrest. Because of Antakov's high-profile status in the former regime, his identity as a criminal wasn't released to the public, and he was put in solitary confinement at Erdeli Prison, a secret, high-security prison outside Saint Petersburg, without a trial. Through his years in prison, Antakov held Garrett as the man responsible for his arrest and plotted his escape to get revenge on him. As part of this plan, he gained the trust and sympathy of Ivan Kozar, one of the guards who was a Russian nationalist and who lacked a father figure, eventually turning him into his accomplice.
The Ripper of Riga[]
Garrett realizes Antakov's involvement in the abduction of an American ballet dancer in Saint Petersburg when his team finds one of her toes severed and bearing the distinctive marks of the Metal Fang. He visits Poshakov and tells him that the Ripper is back. Poshakov denies it and says that he is still in prison. When Garrett tells him about the new evidence consistent with his M.O., they decide to visit Antakov in prison to learn about what he knows. Once there, Antakov sarcastically calls them "old friends" and invites them into his cell, adding that they cannot decline because they need him, rather than the opposite. Indirectly, Antakov confirms that he used "a patsy" to abduct the dancer, get the FBI involved, and lure them to a trap in the patsy's apartment. Poshakov and Garrett, who have been told on the phone about a search in Kozar's apartment, run out of the cell to alert the people there, but they are unable to stop the bomb from exploding. Meanwhile, Antakov uses their distraction to murder their police escort and several prison guards.
Antakov is shot dead.
Antakov's escape causes a conflict with the Russians, who blame the IRT for it and ask them to leave the country as soon as possible. However, after finding a file with information on Garrett's family at Kozar's home, the IRT realize that they are the real target of Antakov's plan. They activate the FBI's protocol to ensure their safety, but Kozar manages to abduct Ryan Garrett outside of a conference in Helsinki, Finland. Kozar delivers Ryan to Antakov in an abandoned Soviet military garage, and Antakov promptly shoots Kozar in the back of the head and beats Ryan severely. He finds Ryan's tracking device and puts it in Kozar's mouth to make sure Garrett finds them. In order to avoid an even worse international incident, Garrett tracks his son to the garage and confronts Antakov alone. Threatening Ryan, Antakov convinces Garrett to surrender his gun. After Garrett calls Antakov "a common thug with delusions of grandeur", he orders Ryan to take another gun and shoot his father in the heart under the threat of being shot in the head himself. Ryan shoots Garrett, but Antakov tells him that he intends to kill Ryan slowly and painfully anyway before continuing his killing spree. Ryan tries to shoot Antakov, but the gun is empty, and Antakov mocks him. However, Ryan reveals that he was actually trying to distract him while he kicks his father's gun back to him. Garrett grabs the gun and kills him before Antakov can shoot him himself.
Modus Operandi[]
"I like to tenderize my meat before I take a bite.'
During his first phase as a serial killer, Antakov would abduct his victims, beat them, and tear bits and pieces of their bodies with his biting device, before murdering them. He later tried to force Ryan to shoot Jack with a Makarov PM pistol under the threat of being shot himself with a CZ 100.
Profile[]
No official profile of Antakov was made by the IRT because they had their attention on Kozar at the time. However, Garrett described him as a narcissistic sadist who finds pleasure in inflicting pain on others because he cannot feel anything himself.
Real-Life Comparisons[]
Antakov appears to have been heavily based on Andrei Chikatilo - Both were Soviet serial killers who bit chunks of flesh out of at least some of their victims (though Chikatilo actually used his teeth while Antakov used a device), were active for several decades, and were given nicknames with the words "Ripper" and a city beginning with the letter "R" in them. Also the backstory of Garrett collaborating unofficially with Boris to identify Antakov seems to be a loose allusion to forensic analyst Viktor Burakov's request to collaborate with the FBI during the investigation of the Rostov Ripper case, which was infamously turned down by the Soviet government. Galina Glazunov's contempt for criminal profiling seems likewise inspired by the popular idea that Chikatilo was free to kill for years because the Soviet government refused to admit that a serial killer could exist in their country and thought serial killers were exclusively an American phenomenon.
He may have also been based on Serhiy Tkach - Both were Russian serial killers who born in Russia but mostly active in (and received a nickname after a place in) a different Soviet republic, became serial killers after their successful careers in Soviet law enforcement ended in disgrace, and were sentenced to life in prison for their murders, long after the end of the USSR.
Antakov is similar to Nikolai Dzhumagaliev - Both were serial killers who used sharp metallic teeth to mutilate their victims, were given nicknames based on it, and managed to escape the facilities they were sent to. Also Antakov's device being called a "Metal Fang" could possibly be a direct nod to Dzhumagaliev.
He also has loose similarities to Anatoly Slivko - Both were Russian serial killers who dismembered their victims and were interviewed in prison about an unrelated offender assumed to be similar to them.
Known Victims[]
Personal Victims[]
- c. 1980s-1991, Riga, Latvia: Several unnamed prisoners (all tortured, mutilated, and possibly killed)
- c. 1992-unspecifed year, Russia: Several unnamed victims (all mutilated and killed)
- 2017, Saint Petersburg, Russia:
- The escape from Erdeli Prison:
- Three unnamed prison guards (also mutilated and stole one of their uniforms)
- An unnamed FSB officer
- The abandoned military garage standoff:
- Ivan Kozar (his accomplice; shot in the back of the head; left Ryan's tracker in his mouth post-mortem)
- Ryan Garrett (Garrett's son; abducted by Kozar, then beaten and forced to shoot his father; intended to dismember alive; was rescued)
- Jack Garrett (attempted to shoot)
- The escape from Erdeli Prison:
Proxy Victims[]
- 2017:
- Saint Petersburg, Russia:
- Felicia Pope (abducted and mutilated by Kozar; later attempted to kill in the apartment bombing; was rescued)
- The apartment bombing committed by Kozar:
- Two unnamed FSB officers (killed)
- Major General Galina Glazunov (intended)
- Matthew Simmons (wounded)
- Mae Jarvis (attempted; but survived)
- Clara Seger (attempted; but survived)
- Helsinki, Finland: Ryan Garrett (abducted by Kozar)
- The abandoned military garage standoff, Saint Petersburg, Russia:
- Jack Garrett (attempted, but survived; was non-fatally shot by Ryan under his threat)
- Saint Petersburg, Russia:
Notes[]
- Antakov's actions in the episode follow part of the plot of the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs, which is also about a serial killer who is interviewed in prison by an FBI agent investigating another criminal on the loose, has the imprisoned killer knowing the identity of the other criminal but speaking in riddles rather than outright stating it, and said killer later escaping and murdering several prison guards in the process. As such, Oleg could be considered as indirectly based on the fictional killer's real-life inspiration, the Mexican doctor and serial killer Alfredo Ballí Treviño.
- Antakov is extremely similar to George Foyet ("Omnivore", "To Hell and Back, part 2", "Nameless, Faceless", and "100") - Both were sadistic serial killers who were active several years before their debuts and their cases were investigated by the leader of the IRT and BAU respectively, Jack Garrett and Aaron Hotchner. Both used black clothes, had gray hair, used sharp objects and guns to kill their victims and had similar nicknames. Furthermore, their cases were brought back due to an incident related to them (Kozar's crimes and Foyet's "copycat" murders), both were captured by their nemesis but managed to escape from prison. Also, both tried to kill the sons of the agents that caught them as well as said agents before being killed by their respective nemeses (through different means). Finally, the speech in which Antakov lets Garrett know that he was planning to continue killing after the final encounter might be a nod to the fact that Foyet continued with his crimes after he confronted Hotch and killed Haley Brooks some time later.
Appearances[]
Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders[]
Season Two[]
Criminal Minds[]
Season Thirteen[]
- "Cure" (mentioned)