Two Satanists arrested in Moscow region for ritual murder

Moscow, Russia - Two young Satanists have been detained in Moscow on suspicion of committing a ritual murder, the press service of the Moscow region Prosecutor's Office told Interfax on Monday.

"Two men were arrested in connection with the murder of a 50-year-old unemployed in the town of Pavlovsky Posad near Moscow - a student of the Polygraph Institute, aged 21, and a packager at a Moscow firm, aged 18," the press service said.

As they walked around the town in the early hours of November 19, 2006, clad in black, they wanted "to sense the smell of blood", as the suspects themselves put it, the press service said.

Their first victim was a cat they strangled, burnt and hanged on a tree.

They proceeded to attack a passerby they mistook for a homeless.

"They beat him up and cut him with a knife, striving to stab him in the heart 13 times," the press service said.

The two were taken into custody on charges of intentional murder for hooliganism motives.

Prosecutors do not rule out that other episodes of Satanists' activity may come to light as the investigation proceeds.