He was released in 2006 and settled in Solikamsk, accompanied by 25-year-old Olga Chekotina, his girlfriend whom he had met at the orphanage and who had served time for causing grievous bodily harm.
Unwilling to leave a witness to their crimes, Kolesnikov took a screwdriver and stabbed her, while Chekotina grabbed a rag, threw it on the woman's face and set it on fire.
[3] The second murder occurred on 2 January 2007, with the victim being a veteran of the Great Patriotic War whom Kolesnikov stabbed to death with a knife.
On 13 January, Kolesnikov helped an elderly woman to transfer money to her mobile operator and was invited over to her house for some soup and tea, but was later caught attempting to steal 150 rubles from the pocket of her raincoat.
The subsequent investigation into their crimes lasted more than six months, ending with Kolesnikov's confession of committing six murders in total, in five of which he was aided by his girlfriend.
While he was acknowledged as the main perpetrator, investigators concluded that if he had not been instigated by Chekotina to start killing, he likely would have remained a simple thief.
[3] He remained there until sometime in 2016 when an article about the conditions of the colony and featuring interviews with prisoners living there revealed that Kolesnikov had been the latest inmate to commit suicide and had been buried in the graveyard.