Vasile Tcaciuc

{{Short description|Romanian serial killer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}

{{Infobox murderer

| name = Vasile Tcaciuc

| image = Vasile Tcaciuc.01.jpg

| image_upright =

| image_size =

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| alias = The Butcher of Iași

| birth_date = {{circa}} 1900

| birth_place = Bessarabia Governorate, Russian Empire

| death_date = {{Death date|1935|10|17|df=y}} (aged 34–35)

| death_place = Iași, Kingdom of Romania

| death_cause = Shot by police

| resting_place =

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| criminal_charge = Murder

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| victims = 21–26+

| beginyear = 1917

| endyear = 1935

| country = Romania

| states =

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| motive = Robbery

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}}

Vasile Tcaciuc ({{circa}} 1900 – 17 October 1935){{Cite book |last=Hall |first=Susan |title=The World Encyclopedia of Serial Killers, Volume Four T-Z |year=2021 |publisher=WildBlue Press |isbn=978-1-952225-35-2 |oclc=1261364479| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Go4EAAAQBAJ}} was a Romanian serial killer who lured victims and then murdered them with an axe that he specially constructed. He killed between 21 and 26 people from 1930 to 1935 and the primary motive was robbery.{{Cite web|language=ro|first=Ionuț|last= Benea|title=Povestea "măcelarului din Iași", românul cu cele mai multe crime din istorie|url=https://adevarul.ro/locale/iasi/povestea-macelarului-iasi-romanul-cele-mai-multe-crime-istorie-1_5195c5da053c7dd83fa607a2/index.html|date=May 17, 2013|newspaper=Adevărul|access-date=October 23, 2022}}

Originally from Bessarabia,{{cite web|url=https://evenimentulistoric.ro/cum-a-reusit-macelarul-din-iasi-sa-scape-nepedepsit-pentru-cele-26-de-crime-pe-care-le-recunoscuse.html|title=Cum a reușit Măcelarul din Iași să scape nepedepsit pentru cele 26 de crime pe care le recunoscuse|language=ro|newspaper=Evenimentul Istoric| first=Cătălin|last=Pena|date=December 19, 2020|access-date=October 23, 2022}} Tcaciuc was known to the Iași police since around 1930, and had been arrested and sent to prison on robbery and burglary charges. On 7 September 1935, a dog found six bodies under his house in Iași. He confessed to having committed at least 21 murders at the behest of a 17-year-old girl, who then helped him bury the victims under the floors of several isolated houses and in a forest.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1935/09/27/archives/girl-is-held-as-lure-in-the-murders-of-21-youth-arrested-for.html/|title=Girl Is Held as Lure in the Murders of 21; Youth Arrested for Killings in Rumania Says She Had Influence of a Demon|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 27, 1935|access-date=October 23, 2022|page=4}} He was shot dead by a policeman while trying to escape during a reconstruction of one of his crimes.{{cite web | url=http://www.procuror.ro/article/8791/Vasile-Tcaciuc-ndash-Macelarul-din-Iasi | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170615085556/http://www.procuror.ro/article/8791/Vasile-Tcaciuc-ndash-Macelarul-din-Iasi | url-status=dead | archive-date=June 15, 2017 | title=Vasile Tcaciuc – Măcelarul din Iași |language=ro| website=www.procuror.ro | access-date=February 20, 2014}}