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Grave Robbers
21 Plays1 month ago
In this episode, Nym takes a look at some twisted individuals who partook in grave robbing.
Enter the Nightmare for show notes, sources, transcripts and more!
Music by Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV by Nine Inch Nails, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
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Transcript
Introduction to the Nightmare Cottage
00:00:29
Speaker
Welcome to Nim and Nyleen's Nightmare Cottage, where we explore history, mysteries, and other tales of the macabre. I'm Nim. And I'm Nyleen. Let the nightmare begin.
00:00:47
Speaker
disturbing And we're
00:00:55
Speaker
we're back with another episode in the Nightmare Caravan. In the Nightmare Caravan. We're going to have to change the name. I know, we're to have to change the name. Oh my God, that was a cat. That was a cat knocking over a Halloween pumpkin that is still out. Because of course it is.
00:01:11
Speaker
It's a pumpkin. It's not a Halloween pumpkin. It's just a pumpkin. Which has, does it not have a Jack and Leonard face on it? No, not yet. Okay. All right. You're right. You're right. It's just a pumpkin. It's a craft pumpkin that I do intend to carve.
00:01:24
Speaker
You're right. I never got to it. Pumpkins are definitely not a fall decor whatsoever. Listen, i like pumpkins and it's Halloween in my house year round. You know this. Fair enough.
Ice Storm Adventures
00:01:36
Speaker
So um how have you been? Anything crazy plaguing your nightmares lately?
00:01:41
Speaker
Well, I mean, the whole world was covered in ice. Oh, my gosh. Was it really? i thought it was just like most of the U.S. I didn't realize. Oh, no, I don't know. I was being very dramatic. My whole world.
00:01:55
Speaker
Fair enough because we couldn't go anywhere. No. We were like stranded with ice. Yeah. So we get one ice storm a year. So we're never prepared for it. No. I do know how to drive in it. I've had to drive in it for work, but I know that most people do not. Yes, dude. The amount of accidents and then someone knocked over a stop sign.
00:02:15
Speaker
Right down the street. Well, because we have this like hill to get out of our neighborhood. Yeah. Both ways too. Yes, exactly. So that was the big problem. I have four-wheel drive, so it works. But apparently, i don't know if Amazon trucks do.
00:02:29
Speaker
So it may or may not have hit a stop sign. We're not and throwing accusations anywhere or anything. We're going to get sued. Let's hope not.
00:02:41
Speaker
You know, we've talked about the feral kitties I've been taking care of. There's kittens. And it was supposed to be like. The little floofy butts. Yes. But during that ice storm. Oh, yeah. It was going to be like in single digit, you know, Fahrenheit temperatures. And that's very, very, very cold for a tiny, tiny ball of fluff. Yes. Now. Now they do have like. She usually like lets them stay. Well, lets them stay. They live under the.
00:03:07
Speaker
What it called? It's a back. It's a shed in the backyard. yeah And like there's it ah kind of on an elevated ah foundation and part of the wood on the inside of it has rotted on the bottom. So there is a hole. So they crawl under the the shed and into the barn. Yes. They're truly, truly little feral kitty babies. Yeah. So they're they're barn cats. That's great. And I'm glad that they have that and and stuff. But I was not for because it got down. I think the wind chill was in the negatives. I'm pretty sure. Yeah. So I was really worried about the baby. So i did the internetting and figuring out what I could do. I had to. Oh, yeah. The little house. Yeah. So you came over and helped me put it together. I forgot about that little house. Yeah. Right. Right before the ice. You came over and we did that. So guys, that was comedic. It was so sad. We were trying so hard about this. It should not have been that difficult.
00:03:58
Speaker
In all fairness, we were sitting on some parts and I'm pretty sure and Grim took off. Like he kept going in and out of it. Yeah. Pieces. It was very silly. it was shenanigans for sure. And we have had all of this experience putting together this, this nightmare caravan. You would think that that would have been anyway, whatever here nor there.
00:04:16
Speaker
So it's a little heated house. as It plugs in and and has a little. and It did look real cozy. Yeah. A little little pad that like warms up and then it's like insulated and stuff on the inside and then has like waterproofing. And anyway, so I set that up in front of my garage and.
00:04:32
Speaker
Anyways, even the kittens, every single cat that I've been taking care of is still present and accounted for. We're back to normal temperatures. They all made it through. I was wondering if you could tell if they had used it or not. I i honestly, I haven't messed with it yet because like I don't want to like mess with their space if they've claimed it. Yeah. Like they're like, oh, no, someone peeked in here. But I don't know because you feed them. I feel like they're used to you. I know. some of ah Some of them are cool with me ish. I don't know. I just I try to respect their space. You have so much more. i don't know. What is it Not just patience. Restraint. Restraint. Yes. Impulse control is so much better than me because I'd be like, nope, I gave you that house. I'm going to look in there.
00:05:11
Speaker
And i know that's horrible, but. I'm just petrified of scaring them away. i just want them to feel safe and I don't want my presence to fuck that. So. Here we are. i know. i'm i don't know. You're giving me a look. I feel shame somehow. What about you? What has your nightmare
Suspicious Phone Calls and Unsettling Events
00:05:29
Speaker
been plagued with? Oh, my gosh, dude. So it's really funny because yesterday was really, really weird. I don't know what was in the air yesterday, but it was just a weird day. So I ended up getting a phone call like I was at work.
00:05:44
Speaker
And I was answering. i never answer unknown numbers. Right. Right. Yes. Because like who the fuck does that? But right now I have to because I'm trying to enroll my kid in school in a new school. And so I'm like I like filled out all the online forms and like, you know, just scheduled some doctor's appointments and all this stuff. And so it's like I we're getting those unknown numbers. Right. Yeah.
00:06:05
Speaker
So I've been answering And unfortunately for me, this time it was this guy and it sounded like he was in his car and you could hear his GPS like being like, turn left, turn right, bo blah, blah.
00:06:17
Speaker
And he was like, hi, am I speaking to you? you know and I was like, yes. And he goes... Yeah, I'm a I need to I wanted to look I needed to look at your solar panels because I have solar panels, which is like the worst fucking decision I've ever made. That's all I'm serious. I don't know, man. Like, I don't know. Maybe I'm just not seeing the benefit. It's just been such a hassle up to now. Like they're there.
00:06:40
Speaker
I just haven't seen a change in my like electricity bill. I feel like it's just like average billing because they don't really give me much back for the electricity they buy from me. But if I could get off the grid, it sounds horrible. But if I could, i feel like I would be better off or if I could like shut off and use the grid as like emergency. But most of my like payment is still going to like Encore fees and stuff.
00:07:04
Speaker
Even if I don't use any electricity, I'm still paying in like 70 or $80 just in fees for like everything. So, and that doesn't include like trash and water anyways.
00:07:16
Speaker
So this guy calls and he's like, starts talking to me. He's like, yeah, I to look at your panels. And I'm like, I'm sorry, who are you? and he told me his name, full name, which I'm not going to say on here, but first name, last name. And he goes, I'm with, you with this solar company, which just so happens to be my solar panel installer.
00:07:35
Speaker
And I was like, okay. And I was like, and you said you need like to do a service call? And he goes, yeah, yeah. Like they're sending me out for a service call, which I found odd because they did recently come and like fix one of my panels that had hill damage.
00:07:49
Speaker
So i was like, i don't know, maybe this is like delayed. Maybe there's confusion. And I was like, okay, well, i was like, I can't help you right now. Can we schedule for like another day? Like, you know, Monday, the last guy literally just got on my roof. Like didn't even tell me. He was like, I just did it, whatever.
00:08:05
Speaker
which is horrible. But anyways, so this guy was like, yeah, I'll come Monday at 10 a.m. m I'll be there. And I was like, this is a really weird conversation. And then he goes, oh, hey, who's who's your electric provider?
00:08:19
Speaker
And I said, what? And he goes, yeah, ah like, how much has your bill been? And I was like, I don't know, but we can talk about that when you come for the appointment because I can pull it. And he goes, well, just like tell me what you think it is. Like, how do you not know what your bill is?
00:08:35
Speaker
And I was like, well, because I have it on like auto pay. I don't know. Like, I mean, I do know, but I'm not going to tell some rando on the phone. Like these people are so crazy. So I ended up, after I got off the phone with him, I told my husband because I was like, this is weird.
00:08:49
Speaker
I told him. And then we and I ended up deciding, you know what? I can just email the company. So I emailed the customer service. Same people I yeah like emailed to like get my solar panel fixed. And I was like, hey, you just checking in. like I had this person, their full name, contact me. And they said that they that you guys were sending them to – they needed access to my solar panels. They needed access to my electric box.
00:09:14
Speaker
That, you know, they needed access to like my energy bills, like all of that. Like, I just wanted to make sure this was someone that you sent for like maintenance or service or something.
00:09:24
Speaker
And they responded back and they're like, thanks for letting us know. No, we don't have anyone coming to do that. And I'm like, what the fuck is that? Like, who does that? And now I'm, like, scared that this man is going to come to my house.
00:09:38
Speaker
So this is this coming Monday at 10 a.m.? Yes, this coming Monday at 10 a.m. So I already told my husband he's going to be there. Oh, good. But, like, I'm like, what? This is so crazy. Like, who does this? you want him to be there, too? He can be there, Oh, my gosh. Maybe. Like, it's just so creepy, right? Like, Yeah, that's not, don't like that. There was a part of me that like got really alarmist because we write these stories and listen to these stories all the time. And so now I'm like, should I just go ahead and call the police now and just be like, hey, just so you know, this happened to me and they're supposed to be here and we're just going tell them no.
00:10:08
Speaker
But like, like my husband was like, he's just going to tell them to like, hey, we know that you're not here. You're not who you say you are. I need you to leave. You have five minutes, you have 10 seconds to do so. And I'm like, that's scary. I don't know if I want this.
00:10:22
Speaker
So. That's been my fucking nightmare. So that was yesterday. not only that... So just odd to like the hilarity of the day. so I was sitting out back reading my book like after Bash goes to sleep. I just sit on the back porch, read for like, you know, 15, 20 minutes and just enjoy my my night. And I think I've told you before that there is like music that plays, especially at night. Yeah. From one of the houses because I live near a lot of farmland and we're like in a pit area that I guess couldn't be farmland. Like a valley. Yeah, exactly.
00:10:56
Speaker
So this guy... Was playing yesterday. Dude, someone hurt him. Someone hurt him bad. Like he was playing um some really sad Creed songs. He was playing Move Bitch from Ludacris. Like he was playing that. he was playing Creed. he was playing some really sad Metallica.
00:11:14
Speaker
and like it was getting into like it was just. Some nothing else matters. Yes. And it was just he was he was struggling. He was having a bad time. You could tell. It was just, it was the exclamation mark to my day of like, this is weird.
00:11:29
Speaker
ah Wow. Sorry. just know i want updates when they happen. Yeah. Well, I mean, I did message you the other day and asked you how long it would take you to find me, to to find out that I was missing.
00:11:42
Speaker
And now what we're about to find out, I guess. Yeah, not long. Oh, shit. Yeah, you're going to have to text me. like Oh, no. Seriously, like like before, during, and after, I i need constant updates. um I think I'll actually even be in a work meeting at that time. I don't give a fuck. I want updates.
00:12:02
Speaker
And if everything's okay and it's just funny updates, I'll share them with the room. Oh, fantastic.
00:12:12
Speaker
What you got for us today, because I think it's, oh, I think it's your turn. I hope it's your turn because I didn't prepare anything.
Anatoly Moskvin: Historian of Horror
00:12:18
Speaker
I've got some bad news for you. Oh, fuck. This is real bad, guys. Hey, sorry. No, we told you we were trading off. We both forgot. Just kidding. Just kidding. I definitely have a story for you. i have a series of stories. I will get into the theme shortly. We're just going to get started I like it. Okay.
00:12:36
Speaker
Are you familiar with Anatoly Moskvin? No. Okay. Anatoly Moskvin is a historian, linguist, folklorist, writer, and more, which we will dig into shortly.
00:12:51
Speaker
Is that a pun? No. Might be. i know you choose your words carefully. I do sometimes. Moskvin is well known in academic circles for his work in Celtic folklore, and his lifelong obsession with cemeteries led him to contributing regular articles to the publication called Necrologies.
00:13:11
Speaker
Oh, and what around what year is this? This is early two thousand s Oh, okay. is where Okay. we'll start okay I like to put myself in the set the tone.
00:13:22
Speaker
Yes, absolutely. In one of these articles in Necrologies, he recounts the tale he attributes to his lifelong fascination with death and cemeteries in general. He had always enjoyed exploring and walking through cemeteries as a child.
00:13:35
Speaker
Once when he was 12, he was watching a funeral for a young girl named Natasha Petrova. Some men saw him and forced him to come closer. he was terrified, but they they wouldn't let him run away. he They were just like keeping him there. And they're adults. He's a kid. He had no choice. Wait, what country was this? Russia. jeez. I mean, I should have assumed, but... it yeah ah They made him come right up to the young girl's corpse and insisted that he kiss her.
00:14:01
Speaker
no, is this a real, like he he says, this is a real story. He says, this this is a real story, but it is his word. So can take that as you want to take it. Yeah. Of course. And it was for a publication about death. So it's, you know, it's supposed to be at this memory.
00:14:17
Speaker
Yeah. So he cried and squirmed and tried to get out of it, but to no avail, he finally submitted. He kissed her three times on the forehead. Natasha's mother then produced two rings, placing them on Anatoly's and her daughter's fingers. The men gave him money and fruit and made him swear to not repeat the story to anyone for 40 days. He just had her married.
00:14:38
Speaker
Married a corpse. Yep. Oh my goodness. So he said the experience really cemented not only his fixation with death, but it also opened his mind to the occult. He spent his life learning about death traditions of the world.
00:14:50
Speaker
He traveled extensively and learned various interment and mummification practices. This is actually really amazing because I would imagine that somebody like this, like who was put in such a situation when they were so young, to have the complete polar opposites Right. Like I would imagine that they would probably be someone more that is afraid, terrified of death, terrified of being near a body or the occult or facing that. But it's crazy that they like just took that and really decided to delve into it.
00:15:21
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I mean, he walked through cemeteries and stuff as a kid. He was playing in them as a kid. He was there because he was there all the time. But how did that not ruin your I don't know. I guess you're right. He already had a love for it, I suppose.
00:15:32
Speaker
Yeah, well, and then I think he was like 13 at the time. yeah That should not be your first exploration of sexuality. And yet here we are. However, it actually wasn't his first exploration with sexuality, which we'll get into in a minute.
00:15:47
Speaker
aht know Yeah. Yeah. um in fact actually that's that's the next part course it is yeah no i'm sorry it's not oh i'm sorry i that's for later a spoilers earmuffs that didn't happen no it's okay i'll be cutting that you don't have to i i just edited our listeners minds oh well shit that's all we needed to do this whole time exactly we don't even have to edit anymore i'll save so much time He was commissioned in the early 2000s to document the residents of over 700 Russian graveyards and a self-proclaimed cemetery expert.
00:16:22
Speaker
He walked through and cataloged to every grave. His contemporaries at Necrology say his work is invaluable. I would. Yeah. Like I could imagine how amazing it would be to like be able to give a name and voice to all of those people. Like all of those.
00:16:37
Speaker
Like they're just bones at that point all mixed up together. Like to be able to. bring them back to life and maybe pinpoint somebody to them. Yeah. That's amazing.
00:16:48
Speaker
Yes. Yes. Okay. You can say whatever. is Sorry. No, I am i don't. I agree with that. I actually think that before we get too much further in the story. Oh, no. Is he going to end up being the villain? And I'm like, wait, this is the Nightmare Cottage. I'm a big dum-dum.
00:17:03
Speaker
Okay. So this guy's a Nazi. Well, all will be revealed. Oh, no. So... What happened was... So several times while he was working on that documentation project, he was questioned for potential vandalism and disturbances. But with his credentials as a professor and explanation of his work, he was never stopped, ticketed, or arrested because it was... Oh, they're like, yeah, no, I'm here because I'm supposed to be. Exactly. I'm sorry. Did I make a mess? I was just cataloging. i put it all back properly. Better than it was before.
00:17:35
Speaker
um Yeah, we'll get there. um So you look so uncomfortable. I love this. Well, now we're going to get to that part about his personal life. Moskvin was actually sexually and physically assaulted when he was a young boy um and in a one off violent situation.
00:17:53
Speaker
Throughout his life, he was repulsed by sex of any kind. He was totally straight edge, like no drugs, no alcohol, no smoking, no nothing. Lived with his parents by choice. He just he wanted to live with his He just had zero interest in traditional paths.
00:18:06
Speaker
Yeah. Which I mean, in a normal situation, totally OK. Yeah. yeah You know, I just that's horrible. The reason why that happened. Yeah. Yeah. We're getting there.
00:18:19
Speaker
I'm not liking this. No, yeah, you shouldn't. um But he did very much want a daughter, even though he didn't want to have anything to do with sex. OK. But he had a female friend that agreed to marry him and adopt a child with him. Oh, that's nice. But their adoption application was rejected due to low income. Oh, no.
00:18:37
Speaker
Shortly after the rejection, their relationship fell apart. Oh, no, because they were only together for the kid anyway. They really were. Yeah, they just wanted a kid. They were able to do it. Oh, that's so sad. Yeah. So as I mentioned, he lived with his parents, but they did a lot of traveling and were gone more than they were there. So for the best, really. Yeah, but they did have a relationship with Anatoly. Apparently in 2003, shortly after his breakup, he fought with his parents about his want to adopt a little girl.
00:19:03
Speaker
They thought it was just unhinged for him to want to do that. Like it was not. Just because he didn't have a life outside of what he was doing. Probably. They felt like he'd be too selfish for it or something. Well, yeah. They just like adopting is dumb. Shut up. You know, basically. Yeah. We do not think adopting is dumb. Right. No, we don't. I'm villainizing his parents. Exactly.
00:19:24
Speaker
Which is probably fucked up of me to do, but I'm doing it anyways. Damn, she did it anyway. So his parents left for another trip shortly after this, taking the cat as they usually did. Anatoly found these times to be the most lonely. The times he most wanted a daughter.
00:19:38
Speaker
This was presumably when his crimes began in earnest. Oh, God. What did he do? No. no, no, no. no no Oh, no. Not this being the reason. God, is this going to be horrible? Is this going to be horrible, isn't it? It's pretty horrible. Why are we doing this? because Who approved this? Because it's the nightmare cottage. Oh, fuck. I did build this myself.
00:20:00
Speaker
You did. i helped you. So between roughly 2003 2011...
00:20:07
Speaker
Moskvin began exhuming bodies of young girls from various cemeteries in and around Nizhny Novgorod. Something to note, his choices were not random. No. According to investigative records later released by the Russian Investigative Committee, the graves he targeted were almost always those of children whose families had stopped visiting regularly.
00:20:26
Speaker
Oh, no. From Moskvin's recorded psychiatric interview, he believed these children were forgotten and lonely. he would sleep on the graves and talk to the girls using old Celtic tradition, folkloric tradition, trying to determine who wanted to be saved, oh who was a spirit and who was a demon.
00:20:46
Speaker
my gosh. If the girl was amenable, he would dig her up, dry her out and bring her home to take care of her until he could use black magic to bring her back to life. Okay, wait, hold on. You just said so fucking much. um Okay, let's rewind. Pack some of that. Yes. So old Celtic tradition. He's using some kind of Celtic traditions to decipher right what these messages you are. Yeah, to communicate with the dead. Okay, what are these?
00:21:14
Speaker
How is he doing this? Like, what is? the Well, the general idea is that as he's sleeping on the graves, they will speak to him in his dreams to let him know. Oh, so he's dreaming about this. I guess. Okay. I suppose it's, yeah. Okay.
00:21:28
Speaker
I will say that a lot of this, I mean, this is a Russian story. it was very difficult to find a lot of sources on it. So I had to work off of like the CNN and the, like the things that were in English that I could work with. Yeah. And just a couple of the English language, Russian documents that I could find. so yeah, this is crazy. Oh my gosh. Okay. So we Celtic traditions and then he would dry them out. Yes.
00:21:54
Speaker
Like, oh, that made my stomach turn. OK, I'll describe it a little bit more later. OK, sorry. And then black magic. Now he knows black magic. Wait, he's living with his parents.
00:22:06
Speaker
Right. So is he doing this at? ah He's doing it at home. Wait, like in his room, no one can smell the little girl beef jerky in the other room. We're going to get to his parents. Oh, no. Actually, I don't think I actually get into it. So did he kill his parents? He did not kill his parents. But they have claimed and they even to this day claim they never knew that. They thought that it was just, enough you know, you need more information. You need more information first. Let's we'll talk about it. soon Yeah.
00:22:34
Speaker
Because I wasn't done with what he does. That's not I wanted it to be done. I know. Okay. Okay. So yeah, dig her up, dry her out, bring her home. So he can use black magic to bring her back. Okay.
00:22:47
Speaker
All right. That's a choice. Yep. um Eventually he forewent the sleeping on the grave bid because it presumably sucked. um And he wanted the girls to be more comfortable. So he found more comfortable places for them to sleep with him.
00:22:59
Speaker
Just sleeping though. It was, he was, i will say that at the very end, there's zero evidence that he did anything sexual with any any of these. were there Was it just like one at a time that he would like,
00:23:11
Speaker
dig up or was it like a collection that he would like form like a harem of for lack of a better term in the end there's about two dozen um and dolls oh oh is this the living doll dude the one that was like sorry i realized that that was a oh my heart just my heart just jumped like it's just oh i'm sorry i didn't realize that i hadn't gotten there yet oh my gosh it's okay okay so tell me more i'm sorry i'm sorry i'll stop asking questions So using techniques he had encountered through academic study of burial customs and preservation, he partially mummified the remains.
00:23:50
Speaker
He would tie bags of various amounts of baking soda and salt to preserve them. Where did he learn to do this? Well, he's studied death and death culture. It's true. It's true. Like, yeah, so he, yes. I would have been friends with this person. like I thought that earlier. i was like, when you first said something about him running through graveyards as a child, was going to like, oh, it's your childhood. And then I didn't, but now I just did and ruined it all.
00:24:14
Speaker
Sorry. Please don't. Please don't mummify me. i will definitely not mummify you. Thank you. Or my child. I love both you and your child. I would never do such a thing. And I will keep you close forever.
00:24:28
Speaker
You're making me sound so sinister.
00:24:32
Speaker
Okay. So I'm sorry. um Good. Nice light break there for a moment. um Mummifying your child. Yes, that was a light break. Listen, we have to be the palate cleansers. For our own podcast.
00:24:46
Speaker
ah Anyways. Okay. So yeah. So you do the. He mummified them for the 50th time. you told me. With baking soda and salt. Yes. On their limbs or just in general? Like he just dried it on them. um All over. And put them in a humidifier like they were jerky. He dressed the girls in either clothes they were buried in or clothing he found in the trash. um Oh, come on He wrapped their skin with stockings and fabrics he found in the trash. And then he would either paint their faces or attach masks to their faces. Oh my goodness. Why not just get like dolls into it?
00:25:20
Speaker
He gave because he wanted the he could bring them back with black magic. These were going to be his daughters. my gosh. Okay. um He gave them names. He posed them. he kept them in his apartment. oh my gosh. He attached buttons to their eyes so they could watch cartoons with them. Oh my gosh. He inserted music boxes into their rib cages so they could make sounds when he interacted with them. Oh my gosh.
00:25:42
Speaker
Oh. It's just getting worse. I'm so sorry. To Moskvin, these weren't dead bodies. They were substitutes for the daughter he believed had been unjustly denied to him.
00:25:54
Speaker
There had been reports for years of grave desecrations in the area, and it was at first attributed to extremist groups because somehow that was less scary than the upset-minded professor. Yeah. um Surveillance failed to catch anything for years.
00:26:06
Speaker
They finally caught him painting over faces on tombstones thinking it was an anti-Muslim hate crime. Oh. It wasn't. and i i Yeah, but that's crazy that that's how they caught him. yeah, yeah it was, yeah. Oh my gosh.
00:26:20
Speaker
I couldn't find anything about what tradition or whatever he was actually thinking he was doing by doing that. Some kind of black magic ah apparently. yeah I forgot that you said this was like in the 2000s, like, because this seems like Something that would have happened so much later. Like, I do wonder how long some of these poor children had been underground before he even pulled them up. Like... ah Most of them... You know I don't know.
00:26:46
Speaker
i I'm going to be real honest. I could not find... i could find some information on some of the victims and most of them were recently deceased. Like, not to like... i Not that I think this crime could be any better.
00:26:58
Speaker
But at least, at the very least, he wasn't like... He didn't know these girls in life, you know, and then just like after they died. it was definitely not that. That would been like three million times worse. But how did he know, I guess, if he was hanging around? Like how did he know that the parents had stopped visiting? And not only that, like someone on the grounds would have noticed like, hey, that's been dug up for some fucking reason. Yeah.
00:27:26
Speaker
How long did this go on for? ah Before someone like caught him painting the faces 2003 to 2011. Oh my gosh. So was it just the same cemetery? a specific No, it was several in the area. Okay. yeah And what... well You said Russia. Okay. Yeah.
00:27:43
Speaker
The discovery of him in the the graveyard and is what finally took them to search his home. Oh no. Yeah. Yeah. When police finally searched his home 2011, they discovered the preserved remains of more than two dozen little girls between the ages of three and 12. The home he shared with his... In addition to the shocking discovery itself, was the horrid condition of the apartment. It was like an episode of Hoarders. it's it's I'll show you the video later. Oh, no. Stacks of books, papers, and pretty much whatever covered every surface, and then there were like books and papers and bullshit on top of that. There was no attempt to hide the bodies. Moskvin appeared genuinely confused as to why anybody would be upset.
00:28:21
Speaker
That reaction became central to his psychiatric evaluation. yeah his and insane yeah he had to be insane. like he he had a Well, it's Russia. Do they have an insanity plea? I don't know how their laws work. okay yeah yeah Multiple forensic assessments diagnosed him with paranoid schizophrenia, citing longstanding delusions, magical thinking, and complete inability to distinguish symbolic ritual from physical reality. Yeah, I was wondering about that with the like whole, like, the girls telling him Like it had to be some kind of delusion that he was experiencing. But I don't understand if his parents lived there. I know you said they would travel a lot, but still like you had to have noticed they couldn't have thought those were just dolls sitting there. Yeah. I don't think I have –
00:29:04
Speaker
it in my notes so I'm just going to talk about it that is what they claim they claim that so he always kind of had an interest in dolls and they thought that this was just an extension of his interest in dolls like these creepy ass that he was just making these dolls and even in one of them even lived in their bedroom oh my goodness yeah the rest of the parents bedroom yeah the rest of them were in his room oh my god yeah and the baking soda and salt probably hit a lot of the smell to be honest sure yeah yeah oh he would dry them out he knew how to do it because he'd been studying Oh my gosh.
00:29:34
Speaker
He was diagnosed with schizophrenia and deemed legally insane and unfit to stand trial. From a forensic psychology standpoint, Moskvin's behavior does not align with sexual necrophilia.
00:29:46
Speaker
Moskvin consistently expressed disgust towards sex and denied any sexual interest in the bodies. That doesn't make it better, though. No, it doesn't. It's still a violation. Yeah, if yes. Still desecration of a corpse. Yes.
00:29:57
Speaker
You know, all of the evidence does support that he didn't. Yes. Yeah. He didn't do anything of that nature with them. So when initially arrested, Moskvin told the police not to bury the girls too deeply because he'd be getting them back when he was released. Oh, my goodness. That is disgusting. That is like a disgusting person. Like, how dare you? They are real people. I'm sorry.
00:30:18
Speaker
Moskvin was committed to a psychiatric hospital rather than a prison where he remains under supervision today. ahead. Though when I was researching, several new articles were popping up for like the day I was researching.
00:30:30
Speaker
Did he get out? Did he? It's between October and like just this last week. and There's a lot of talk about his current evaluations are talking about releasing him to his family supervision. No, wait. Okay. So explain to me what the, what the parents said. Like they just, they were just like, oh, he just has a weird fascination. No, because he just they just thought it was his weird thing with dolls. He was like ah an always kind of like socially off kid. and And I guess it's not like illegal to have a disgusting hoarder house. But like, how did they not get charged with something conspiracy to something? Like, I don't know.
00:31:05
Speaker
Because there was no. That's crazy. He should not be released back to them. Oh, was going ask if there were pictures of the girls. Yeah. She's showing me pictures of the girls. Oh, that is so sad. So be wary if you go that and that's him. If you go to look at the show notes that the photos of the dolls are I'll be sure to note, like I'll put just his image as the front image. I'm not doing that to be disrespectful, but I just don't want anyone to be like surprised by seeing a body that they did not expect to see. Yeah. So I'm just going to have him on the front and I will put explicit pictures to follow. Yeah. exactly Yeah. yeah
00:31:44
Speaker
So that is just one of the monsters I'm telling you about today. no I thought that was it I thought that was it. Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry. There are oh two more. No, that was a roller coaster. I don't. Oh my God.
00:31:57
Speaker
I'm so sorry. know why I keep apologizing.
The Obsession of Carl Tanzler
00:32:01
Speaker
So this next guy I'm going to tell you about did some equally heinous shit. Okay. But the reception was really different.
00:32:08
Speaker
The fact that the first several pages of Google were like ghost hunting websites, which no shade, it's just not the kind of research I'm doing. And an article from Real Please Believe It or Not. was kind of rather telling instead of it being like news articles or yeah anything like that. So it felt kind of hokey.
00:32:23
Speaker
Are you familiar with Carl Tanzler? No, I feel like I'm about to be. so this fucking guy So Carl was born in Germany. This fucking guy He was born in Germany, immigrated to Australia for a while, which this happened during the rise of the Nazi party. Oh, good. um So the locals didn't take kindly to his German-ness. Yes. And according to him, they broke into his house a hundred times and broke a hundred windows. Oh, and so he decided to be horrible. I've decided.
00:32:53
Speaker
I've realized. Oh, God. What's he going to and so So then he immigrated to Florida, where most of our story is going to take place. Yeah, of course, because that's the place you go. That's where things happen. If you're going to be outrageous, go to Florida. So Carl Tanzler, original Florida man. All right. Oh, gosh.
00:33:19
Speaker
So Carl did have a wife and daughters, but he abandoned them somewhere along the way. The timeline's muddy depending on who you ask. Okay. He developed the persona of Count von Kassel, a doctor with an impressive lineage that he actually believed in.
00:33:32
Speaker
i mean, fair enough. If you're going to, like, have, if you're going to be German and be, like, you know, villainized for it, just might as well lean into it, I suppose. That sounded really bad, but you know what I mean. I know what you mean.
00:33:44
Speaker
In some of his accounts when he was growing up, he had had visions of this woman who was his ancestor. Countess von Kassel, Anna Constantia von Brockdorf. Okay, man, that's the A for effort.
00:33:58
Speaker
Who was a real countess in the late 1600s. Okay. It's possible they're related, but there was already lot of research happening and I couldn't go down that way. So he's just trying to use real lineage, like a real knight. right, right. To say, look, look at all of them. I'm a count. Yes.
00:34:12
Speaker
um So he wanted everyone to call him Count von Kassel, like a douche. I look fair enough, though, like I would I would, too, if I was going to reinvent myself, I'd be like, call me princess. hu I mean, i guess, but he was not a count. He was not a doctor. What he was was a radiologist in Key West, Florida in the early 1930s, which is great. That is great. But it's not any of the things he was saying he was. wow But as he was working as a radiologist, Maria Elena Milagro de Hoyos. Yeah, de Hoyos. Walked into the hospital where he was working.
00:34:46
Speaker
She was feeling really quite unwell and needed x-rays. The count was flabbergasted. This woman, this Elena, she was the mirror image of Anna Constantia from the visions of his youth. Oh my God. Yeah. So he, not not the doctor, yeah must do everything he can to heal her.
00:35:03
Speaker
Elena was married but estranged from her husband. She's like 22-ish, I think. 22 or 24 at this time. I'm sorry. There's a cat eating behind you. Yeah, I know. There's so much noise in the cottage today.
00:35:14
Speaker
She was married and but estranged from her husband, and that was good enough for Carl. He consistently asked her to marry him, but she consistently said no. And this was in the 30s. So that was like super taboo at that time. Yes. and Despite this, he did everything he could to help her, including stealing and smuggling expensive medical equipment to take to her house so he could try to treat her there. Which I feel like could be easier at that time because there's not very much of a trail. The oversight isn't quite the same. Yes. Yeah.
00:35:43
Speaker
In the end, it was all for naught. Elena died from tuberculosis. Oof. That sucks. After her burial by her family, Carl offered to have a huge, magnificent mausoleum built for her. oh my God. You know what? I didn't even see this coming when you were telling me about this love story. Now I know what's going to happen.
00:35:58
Speaker
Yeah. Her family didn't see a reason not to give their beloved Elena a more fine resting place, so they consented. He had this massive thing built, and I have pictures for that. No. Oh. He had the only key.
00:36:11
Speaker
Oh, there's a basement, isn't there? It's a mausoleum. I know, but did he put a basement in the mausoleum? Did he put, what is it called? the thing under the mausoleum? Like a crypt? Yeah. No. um He would often visit playing music for Elena. He would remove the lid from the coffin to peer at her through the glass.
00:36:28
Speaker
He said that she would frequently come to him and talk to him. Okay, so this isn't the worst thing in the world. It's a little creepy, but it's not the worst. hu um But after almost two years... He started to notice decomposition happening. Yeah, as as as happens and when you die. But he couldn't have that. Oh. He believed that through science he could bring her back. I mean, maybe radiation, but that's how you could fallout.
00:36:50
Speaker
He just needed more time. No, no more time. So he wheeled a toy wagon into the mausoleum, pried her cold dead corpse from her coffin, and wheeled her ass back home. No! To his home, not her.
00:37:02
Speaker
hers oh god actually i guess it was their home because he dressed her in bridal clothes and jewelry and painted her face no over time to manage the decomposition he added wax and coated her with paper mache and silk cloth hold on how long after her death did this happen and Right now we're two years after her death. So two years after her death, she she finally starts decomposing and he takes that opportunity to take her home to preserve her good and keep her there. yeah okay um He set up a second twin bed next to him with a privacy curtain between them. because At least you do that. Girl needs her privacy, right? I mean, at least he's being modest.
00:37:41
Speaker
Protect her modesty. So it seemed people had some idea that something wacky was going on. Really? What ticked them off? It was reported that he was even seen in the window dancing with Elena's body. ah So he had completely fucking lost it.
00:37:53
Speaker
It seemed his plan was to fix up this plane that he had obtained somehow. i I saw some things saying he bought it, some that he found it. I don't know. It was like a small plane. And depending on which account you read, he was either going to fly her back to Germany or my My favorite version of it is that he was going to take her into space so that radiation would bring her back to life.
00:38:12
Speaker
Fair enough. I mean, at that point. Eventually, seven years after he had taken her from her grave, suspicion finally mounted enough to Elena's sister that she came to confront Carl, who denied nothing. um so this is nine years after she died. He's like, you didn't even come visit How would you have known? He was taken into custody.
00:38:31
Speaker
Oh. And seemed more than happy to tell a story. He's like, there's nothing wrong with what I did. Yeah, so much firsthand account of what he did. And man was a storyteller. He was... a storyteller and that to me is almost scarier than someone who has shame about what they've done because in in those in those instances when it's like shame it's it's a compulsion it's something but when it's when there's no shame behind it it's just like if you've completely lost your sense of reason yeah like what are you capable of exactly exactly sorry anyways
00:39:07
Speaker
Despite all of this, though, yeah he was somehow declared sane and fit to stand trial. No. Well, I mean, either way, but you no. So what happened, it happened just before his actual wife's character testimony arrived.
00:39:19
Speaker
So she didn't get to weigh in um But ultimately, he was convicted of nothing and allowed to go free due to the statute of limitations for the crime having been expired. What do you mean? He was still actively doing it.
00:39:31
Speaker
It was for the grave robbing, I think, is specifically. So no one's concerned that he held the body in his house for nine years. That's not ah that's not a problem. just Just the fact that you took her. but You kidnapped her, but once she's there, fair game. So he was devastated when he asked for her body back, but was refused.
00:39:51
Speaker
Oh, my God. Elena's sister had her reburied in an unmarked grave with only four people knowing the location, so he couldn't get her back. Oh, that's good. And those people died, just so nobody knows. It turns out that he had been squatting in the home he'd been living in with Elena, and he wasn't able to go back there after he was released. So he had no choice but to leave Key West and move back in with his sister.
00:40:14
Speaker
a couple of hours after he left town, Elena's original mausoleum exploded. for real? no for real oh my god yes So I really hate how romanticized this story was in like so many of the accounts I read. and then it does feel very Harley Quinn Joker. The newspaper articles I read were objective and clearly saw this as a fucked up situation. But like so many articles made it feel like this is like a love story for the ages. Yeah, no.
00:40:41
Speaker
She did not return. It is. She did not return this man's affections in life. I seriously doubt she wanted to be tied to him in death, especially for so long. Yeah. The amount of sympathy people gave to this truly fucked up man is gross.
00:40:54
Speaker
It's a tragic love story. Like I said, it's it's he's he was consumed by grief and couldn't let her go. not a tragic love story. This is like literally a stalker. Yes. He didn't know her. He just thought she was hot. That's horrible. Yeah, that's her.
00:41:07
Speaker
That's the mausoleum. That's another picture of her.
00:41:11
Speaker
And that's her at the end. Oh my gosh. And that's him. Oh my gosh. And that's the plane. That's that's the plane he was going to be. me see. This is. That's what he was trying to fix up to take her. my gosh.
00:41:25
Speaker
Yeah. And then this is the book he wrote about his account of the whole situation. Did you read it? i did not. Oh, we should read that next. um Or do we not want to do that? Well, it's, you know, it's not an audio.
00:41:37
Speaker
but and But it's not real long. I'd read it. What is it about? it's It is his first. It is his account. It's not fiction. Well, it's fiction. Yeah. But he just talks about what he did. Yes. in lie Is he dead already? Oh, yeah. okay Yeah. he would I wouldn't feel bad about like him profiting or something. Yeah. He he was ah old in the 30s. So.
00:41:56
Speaker
Oh, fair enough. One last one. Oh, God. I know. like keep forgetting. Is that OK? Yeah, of course. No, take as long as you want. I don't care. That's the point of this is for us to be able to just go. Anatoly Moskvin was fairly recent, but it's been long enough that we have some details about the man and the situation.
Grave Robbing in Philadelphia
00:42:14
Speaker
oh Carl Tanzler's experience was very well documented by himself and others. Now we're going to just peek in and see a truly horrific instance of grave robbing that only just got uncovered a few weeks ago. oh my gosh. oh Is it the one? It's the one. oh my gosh. I've been wanting to look into this one. There's not a ton of detail yet, so it's going to be brief.
00:42:33
Speaker
But in early of November of 2025, Police began getting reports of vandalism at the Mount Moriah Cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. oh my gosh.
00:42:44
Speaker
Police have been surveilling the area with no leads for months. Then suddenly, Jonathan Gerlach appeared. Here is a quote from the district attorney's statement. On January 6, 2026, at approximately 20 hundred hours, detectives were conducting surveillance of the cemetery where they observed the suspect's car with numerous bones and skulls in plain view in the backseat of the vehicle. my gosh. Ehrlich was then seen exiting the cemetery holding a burlap bag, crowbar, and other assorted items. Oh my gosh. The offender was brought into custody where he admitted to stealing approximately 30 sets of human remains. Wait, he was stealing remains, not like...
00:43:25
Speaker
jewelry he was stealing their remains. Yes. Oh, my gosh. So Mount Moriah Cemetery was officially closed in 2011, it's been maintained by an organization called the Friends of Mount Moriah Cemetery.
00:43:37
Speaker
Unfortunately, it's a volunteer group, so they're only there on the weekends. Oh, my gosh. There wasn't any security. Yeah. It made it. Yeah, it made it really easy for him to go and do what he was doing. It's a historic graveyard with tons of notable residents, including Betsy Ross and other, you know, just other from across American history. and There's just tons of people there. Jeremy Pauley, who just recently started a six year prison sentence for that was also involving human remains, is also wrapped up in this story somewhat.
00:44:05
Speaker
Allegedly, his ex-wife sold some of his collection through Gerlach. So I think some of the investigating here is going on into the human remains black market. Yes. That's what I was wondering. i was like, but how does he have a license to do that? That's crazy. So he had a shop apparently. So there was some things that are legal to sell somehow. Yeah. Yeah. It just it depends on how they're obtained. That's horrible. Yeah. and And I think that there's, I don't know what the rules are with it, but there's, you know, there's guidelines and regulations and I kind of want to look into that. That sounds really interesting.
00:44:38
Speaker
If I found bones in my backyard, like what would what would I have to do? like Do I call the police? I assume that would be the case. That would be interesting to like track the way it goes, right? like yeah they have to see if they're historical or do they have to? like what what What goes into that depending on the age? I don't know. You're a new build. If I found bones in your backyard, I'd be concerned. Yeah.
00:44:59
Speaker
I mean, there is an oil pipeline like right behind my house. So like depending on how far they dug. But yeah, Gerlach is being held on a million dollars bail. He was supposed to have had a hearing on January 20th, but I didn't see anything new after that. That slow moving, I've noticed. Yeah. Well, in those hearings, like they're not like they might be like like for scheduling. Yeah. like They're like, we all agree that we will meet in three months at this time and everyone will be here. Correct?
00:45:26
Speaker
Cool. Right. And we're going to get some Jimmy Johns. All right. And everyone liked it. No ham for no ham for Mark. Put that on the record. All right. Sorry. but Yeah. So that's, that's it. I'm going to be following that one as well. So if there's any interesting updates, I will share them. Yes. Oh my gosh. I hope that we can keep up with someone. Like i hope that more comes out. I mean, you know, it's horrible what happened, but I'm very interested to see some of these real time ones happening.
00:46:02
Speaker
In theme, I guess, with this the story. i was... As I was researching this, I had Last Dance with Mary Jane from Tom Petty in my head. and Because if you're old and you remember music videos... ah We're not old. We're vintage. we're If you're vintage and we're cool enough to experience the age of the music video... Oh my gosh. Oh, I miss music videos. You know MTV um officially yeah shut off music videos. It's crazy. They're dead. Anyways, so um anyways, they used to be these amazing productions and Tom Petty was definitely one who was all about the music video. He had some really stellar ones, but last dance with Mary Jane's music video is him.
00:46:45
Speaker
his He's okay. So Kim Basinger, the actress um is dead. She's a corpse and ah he's got her dressed in a wedding dress and he's like kind of weekend at burning her around and dancing and stuff through this music video. And Anyways, it it was very, very impactful to my youth and I remember it very much. That's what's impactful. I know. i know. I was a dark kid, right?
00:47:07
Speaker
That's fair. So anyways, um I think you should all look up the music video to Last Dance with Mary Jane from Tom Petty. I i need to remember to um um continue continue to try to link that like as its own separate thing in the show notes, if that's OK. Yes. Yeah, yeah. you Definitely do that. And also, while I was pulling all this together, it i found out that that music video was actually inspired by Carl Tanzler's experience. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. That's kind of cool. Yes. So and then ah the other one, just because we need it, it's almost it's palate cleanser in itself. Weekend at Bernie's.
00:47:42
Speaker
is ah we had some really fucked up media growing up, I think. Dude, yes we did. we had so much. Like, i was like recently, what was I recently watching? and don't remember. I didn't want to go over your story. I'm sorry.
00:47:55
Speaker
But yes, we had fucked up media. Yeah, but I want to know what you're going to say. No, I'll have to remember what it was. Oh, I was rewatching. Okay. So I had out never actually finished watching this with Kristen Bell, um but Veronica Mars. Okay. Okay. So i had heard of Veronica Mars because it was kind of popular around the time when I was you know growing up, but I had never actually watched it. So I decided to go back and watch it recently. And man, that's There's a lot of stuff in there that's really, really like the humor is very dark. Yeah. In a really bad because she's like supposed to be like a detective and and she keeps ending up in like really adult situations, which is very...
00:48:39
Speaker
weird um for the age group that this is supposed to have been for at the time. So that like some really dark themes and then like they just keep saying some really racist shit, which is really weird. But it's just like, you know, at that time, it's just horrible to say. i know. But at that time, like we were so open, not we as, you know, you and me, but like we as like society, society, like our media culture at that time. Like I want to say in the like the late ninety s early 2000s, was very much that
00:49:10
Speaker
Like very sexist, very misogynous misogynistic, like very loud and outspoken and hateful language towards others, like very judgmental. It felt very harsh and negative, like things that I feel like did lead to our culture now where we're like, whoa, you don't have to like be like that though. There was a lot of grit to the that gets – you know, ah washed over with the rose-colored glasses, i think. The the Lisa Frank-colored glasses.
00:49:42
Speaker
But yeah, so. Yeah, fair enough. But yeah, so so we can, at Bernie's, though, for a comedic twist on the whole thing, that's about, if you guys, like, this is an old classic, I think want to be honest with you, I never watched it.
00:49:54
Speaker
I haven't seen it since I was a kid, so i'm I might even be recommending a really problematic movie, so i do apologize in advance. But it's, this guy's boss dies, but they need him to be alive for reasons I do not recall, and so they, like, prop like like dress him up prop him up give him a beer and like treat him like he's alive this whole weekend to get through some mcguffin situation and anyways it's it's it's a classic and it's you know it's worth yeah checking out i might actually need to yeah so it's um a you dark comedy for sure so
00:50:33
Speaker
my palate cleanser I have like a little bit of a question and I just kind of wanted to delve more into like who you are right and understand where we all come from because we all have weird history right that we're delving into all the time sure so I was just wondering like do you have any like weird family lore or like weird stuff that like that your like parents or grandparents would say like off the cuff that you're like that's kind of creepy or but they just kind of blew it off as like oh I remember well I don't the one like haunting story I have came from my grandmother and my mom's mom and and we never know how over like how how true those are yeah man I need to just one day I
The Tale of the 'Toe Knife'
00:51:19
Speaker
need to talk
00:51:20
Speaker
and tell people about this woman because she was ah she was remarkable and a lot of fun and and definitely a reason why I am. who i am I would love to hear that. Yes, but today is not that day. Instead, and when you said family war, I'm going to go a different direction with this than I think that you intended, but I'm going to do it anyways. I would love to hear it.
00:51:41
Speaker
This woman, she she lived with us when I was very little because my parents worked and she would take care of us. And at some point, we have this relic in the family history. I actually still have it in storage. It's a big, heavy...
00:51:57
Speaker
like kitchen knife um with a wooden handle like the old like it's like the big long like a chef man this sounds like a murder weapon so far well my call this relic the toe knife oh oh that sounds horrible what it is why it is why because at some point it fell off the counter oh and chopped her fucking toe off oh my god So that happened. And so... That went a whole different direction than I thought it was going And we continued using that knife for my whole life. I still have it. It's in storage. I don't use it anymore. You're joking. I'm not.
00:52:33
Speaker
Why? Because you don't throw stuff away that's still usable, man. No, but like... I know. Oh my God. I was, i was itty bitty. I couldn't have been more than three. So wait, did, were they able to reattach the toe? Yes. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. They were able to reattach the toe. How much of the toe did it cut off? I think it just, I don't think it came fully off. think it like, yeah, I don't recall. I actually don't think I ever asked.
00:52:54
Speaker
I, mom, tell me the story. Cause I don't know. I know you're listening, but yeah, so that's, that's family lore that created a family artifact. Um, not an heirloom, but an artifact, a relic, the toe knife.
00:53:06
Speaker
I, That is all horrible and I love it. So now I feel like I need to go into storage and find it. Yes. And we need to get a box, like one of the shadow boxes and like. And then like a plaque. Yes. The toe knife. Oh my God. and then we have to like, yeah, I'm telling you. This is happening. You have to do it. 100%. Yes.
00:53:24
Speaker
Well, I think that's enough nightmares for one day. i agree. i think, I think we're good. I think, I think, holy crap. That was all amazing. I love it. And thank you to everyone for sticking and listening through this episode with us.
00:53:39
Speaker
Sweet dreams. ah Bye. If you have topic requests, book or movie recommendations, or just want to say hi, email us at nightmare cottage at gmail.com or visit our website at nightmare cottage.com.
00:53:53
Speaker
Sweet dreams.
00:54:06
Speaker
Bye bye
00:54:10
Speaker
by bye