Moscow deaths spark serial killer theory

The four latest victims were all walking alone at night

Russian newspapers fear a serial killer may be at work in Moscow, after the bodies of four young women were found over the weekend.

Ten women have now been found dead in the city in the last month.

Police say it is too soon to draw conclusions about the murders, but say robbery does not appear to be the motive as the the victims' jewellery was not taken.

The latest four killings were all in different areas of the city on Friday night.

The women were all walking alone at night, some near a park or lake, reported the Moskovsky Komsomolets (MK) newspaper.

Different areas

The youngest, 17-year-old Tatyana Nikishina, was reported to have been strangled after an attempted rape.

The other three women suffered head injuries or were strangled.

But the mass-circulation paper pointed out that the crimes were committed in four different districts of the city, making it unlikely that a single maniac was behind the murders.

Another daily paper, Kommersant, suggested that two serial killers could be at work.

The first six victims were all suffocated, but none is believed to have been raped.