Sijeka Strangler

The Sijeka Strangler, or The Piano Wire Killer or simply The Strangler is serial killer who operated from 1920-1938 in the former Vojiskiy Empire, United Provinces of Rovsnoska and Zaporizhia, and Helinika. His name originated his preferred method of killing which involved strangling his victims usually with piano wire.

He is responsible for at least 92 kills although he claimed to have killed around 250 with some other estimates placing his total kills at closer to 500. The majority of these confirmed kills took place in the city of Sijeka or the surrounding regions. His total number of kills is unknown as he claimed to have been active during the Vojiskiy War killing across numerous fronts. Almost all of his kills during this time period either went unrecorded or were written off as civilian casualties as a result of the fighting.

From 1928 to 1938 the Sijeka Strangler sent 74 taunting letters to the media and Sijeka Police Department where he guided law enforcement to dump sites, confessed to kills all the way back to 1921, and marked the next district he would target. In these letters, he claimed that he was the same killer Vojiskiy law enforcement officials had failed to apprehend from 1920-1922. The Helinikan Federal Police officially labeled the Sijeka Strangler dormant in 1942, 4 years after his last kill in 1938, although to this day the Sijeka Police Department maintains an open case file. In 1953 the Forgotten Victims memorial opened in Sijeka and is dedicated to his victims and victims of other crimes that went unrecorded or were written off.

=History=

Early Life
Little is known of the Sijeka Strangler's early life although authorities believe that he is a native of Sijeka due to his first kills being there and his return there following the Vojiskiy War. Due to the syntax and content of his letters it is believed that he grew up in a wealthy but broken family with an abusive father and complacent mother where he learned to play the piano but was also brutally beaten and potentially molested. Through his letters, it is known that he found himself on the streets between 1917 and 1920 where he committed his first kill by strangling a homeless woman with his bare hands for her jacket on February 14th, 1920.

1920-1922
Following his first kill of the homeless woman, he killed an estimated 22 other women between 1920 and 1922. During this time period, he discovered his Modus Operandi of strangling using piano wire. It is believed that originally he would wrap the wire around his hands and wrist and use it to strangle his victims but by 1921 he had fashioned a garotte with wooden handles that was discovered abandoned at a murder scene after Vojiskiy Law Enforcement officials nearly apprehended him. It was also during this time period that he was officially labeled as a serial killer by Vojiskiy Law Enforcement officials.

Investigation by Vojiskiy Officials
The Investigation into the Piano Wire Killer as he was known at the time was led by Detective Marijan Gotal and lasted from August of 1920 to October of 1922 when it was put on hold due to the outbreak of the Vojiskiy War. During this period approximately 304 individuals were interviewed in relation to his murders and 39 suspects were investigated although ultimately none were charged. The investigation led to 2 close brushes with him including one where he was pursued through several streets and alleyways before he ultimately escaped into the sewers and a second where he nearly beat a policeman to death with a club after being confronted shortly after a kill.

Vojiskiy War
Following his last kill in July of 1922, it is believed that the Sijeka Strangler either enlisted or was conscripted into the armed forces of the Republic of Rovsnoska as he wouldn't commit another murder in Sijeka until 1927. Through his taunts, he claimed to be responsible for countless murders across Rovsnoska and Zaporizhia and other regions of the Vojiskiy Empire. The majority of his kills during this time period went unrecorded as they were listed as civilian casualties or simply collateral damage. It is believed that in the fall of 1923 he was caught by a fellow soldier while attempting to strangle a woman and as a result was sent to a penal battalion where he would perfect his trade. At some point between 1924 and the end of the war, the Sijeka Strangler would desert from the Rovsnoski Armed Forces and temporarily join up with groups of refugees as he made his way back to Sijeka.

1925-1927
During the post-war period, the majority of his kills would go unrecorded but ultimately he is credited with at least 32 kills during this time period but it is believed that the true number is significantly higher. The Sijeka Strangler joined groups of refugees and deserters making their way westwards targeting those who took him in. Because of how nature of travel in the post-war period, many of his victims were believed at the time to have been killed by wild dogs or leftover ordinances or simply to have abandoned their groups and as a result, most kills were not recorded. Of the kills that were recorded, none were linked to him until significantly later due to them being spread across the former Vojiskiy Empire.

1927-1938
On February 14th, 1927, on the 7th anniversary of his first kill, a body was discovered hanging from a light fixture 2 blocks from the headquarters of the Sijeka Police Department. The body had been strangled by a wire garrot and then hung from the light fixture. The body was identified as Ena Radovic who had been living on the streets for 2 years after the end of the Vojiskiy war and the annexation of South Rovsklemja by Helinika. Due to the devastation caused by the war which included the destruction of the old Vojiskiy Empire police department, a connection wasn't made until March 9, 1938, when a letter was delivered to the Sijeka Police Department via courier claiming that he was the same killer that had eluded Vojiskiy Law Enforcement in 1922.

Taunts
Between 1922 and 1938, a total of 74 letters were delivered to newspapers and police stations across Sijeka. =Modus Operandi= =Pop Culture=