Kuzikov claimed to have lost compassion after her death and no longer felt disgust at the sight of blood.

After undergoing forced treatment, he moved into an apartment in Saint Petersburg (then Leningrad), where he began a short-lived marriage.

[2] After his marriage failed, Kuzikov began to spend time with local homeless people and acquaintances from the hospital he was previously treated in, often inviting them to his apartment to drink vodka.

Investigators were quickly led to Kuzikov, who left blood in the stairwell outside of his apartment, which neighbours complained was omitting a rotten smell.

[4] Kuzikov claimed to have killed them because he was too poor to afford enough food with his US$20 monthly pension and that each victim was murdered and dismembered in his bathroom.