The shocking story of the newspaper crime reporter who knew too much
Vlado Taneski was a Macedonian journalist who was also a serial killer. He reported on his own crimes and was caught because he wrote articles on the murders with information that had not yet been released and only the killer would've known
When Vlado Taneski wrote about the serial killer stalking his hometown in Macedonia, his eye for detail was such that the story was soon riveting readers. The journalist's inside knowledge of the brutal murders of three elderly women in the tiny town of Kicevo ensured that newspaper editors gave his columns prominence. All these women were raped, molested and murdered in the most terrible way and we have very strong evidence that Taneski was responsible for all three," said police spokesman Ivo Kotevski speaking from the capital Skopje. "In the end there were many things that pointed to him as a suspect and led us to file charges against him for two of the murders," he added. "We were close to charging him with a third murder, and hoped he would give us details of a fourth woman who disappeared in 2003 - because we believe he was involved in that case, too."
Of all the things which gave Taneski away, police point to his in-depth coverage of a story which is being reported as one of the most bizarre events to have befallen the two-million strong mini-state.
Vlado Taneski (Macedonian: Владо Танески; 1952 – June 23, 2008) was a Macedonian journalist and serial killer. He was arrested in June 2008 in Kičevo, his hometown, for the murders of two women on whose deaths he had also written freelance articles; when arrested he was also being investigated over the death of an additional woman. These articles had aroused the suspicion of the police as they contained information which had not been released to the public. After DNA tests connected Taneski to the murders, he was arrested and imprisoned on June 22, 2008. Taneski was found dead in his cell the following day, after an apparent suicide.
Taneski came under suspicion for murder after having written articles about the three murders and was questioned on several occasions. According to police, Taneski's articles contained information which had not been released to the public. For example, differing from all other reports published in the Macedonian press on the murders, Taneski knew that the killer used a telephone cord to bind Temelkoska and that the same cord was left at the scene by the murderer.
Taneski was arrested on June 20, 2008, after his DNA was matched to semen found on the victims. Examination of the Taneski family's rural cottage uncovered a cache of pornographic material, ropes and cords matching those used to tie the victims, and items belonging to the victims. Taneski was charged with the murder of two of the women, and the police were preparing to charge him with the murder of the third. Details of the case were printed on June 21, and police were also planning to question Taneski on the May 30, 2003, disappearance of the 73-year-old retired cleaner, Gorica Pavleska. After being transferred to Tetovo, Taneski was found dead in his shared prison cell on June 23. He had apparently drowned in a plastic bucket of water. An inquest concluded that, in the absence of other evidence, his death was suicide.
Comments
Post a Comment