A Russian serial killer who murdered three of his drinking friends and ate their boiled remains has been jailed for life.
Eduard Seleznev, 51, from Arkhangelsk, north-west Russia, was convicted of killing three friends between March 2016 and March 2017.
Seleznev, who is known as the 'Arkhangelsk Cannibal', was sentenced to life imprisonment by a lower court.
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His lawyers appealed the decision, but they were unsuccessful, as now the highest court in Russia has confirmed the sentence.
During his trial, Seleznev admitted he boiled his drinking buddies' bodies and used their cooked remains as food after stabbing them when they passed out from drinking too much alcohol.
The unnamed victims, who were aged 59, 43 and 34, were sliced up to remove the best parts he wanted to eat, which were then stored in plastic bags with the rest dumped in a local river.
The court heard his bizarre eating habits also included cooking local cats and dogs as well as birds and other small animals found on the streets. He even moved into the apartment of one of his victims and told the man's parents their son had gone to work in another city.
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He told the same story to police officers who started a missing person investigation. The situation was easier for Seleznev to get around with the other two victims, as they apparently had no relatives asking questions about where they were.
When the bodies were eventually discovered, police said the advanced state of decay and the condition after they had been partially cut up made them difficult to identify.
Reports said the defendant was charged with double murder in the past and was released after serving 13 years in jail.
The Russian criminal code does not include cannibalism so the defendant was on trial for murder and misusing the victims' body parts.
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He was ordered to stand trial after psychiatrists declared him sane and
fully responsible for his actions. Despite this, the defendant gave evidence saying that 'voices' in his head told him to commit the crimes.
After re-evaluating all the evidence, the Russian Supreme Court sentenced Seleznev to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
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