One of the earliest known serial killers in the Soviet Union, Komaroff was a horse trader who murdered at least 33 customers in the stable next to his home, and was executed on 18 June 1923.

When the Russian Empire began to collapse in 1917, Petrov joined the Red Army during October Revolution, learning to read and write and rising to the position of platoon commander.

Petrov managed to escape, but to avoid the judgment of the Military Revolutionary Tribunal he changed his name to Vasili Ivanovich Komaroff (Russian: Василий Иванович Комаров; alternately spelled Komarov), and in 1920 moved to Moscow with his family.

In February 1921, when Vladimir Lenin declared the New Economic Policy which allowed private enterprise, Vasili Komaroff began to commit his first murders.

The victim would be killed with a hammer or sometimes have their throat slit, afterwards the corpse was placed into a bag and then either hidden around the house, buried underground, or dumped in the Moscow River.

In early 1923, police showed up at Komaroff's home originally about illegal alcohol, but during the search of their stable they discovered his latest victim under a stack of hay.