Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe MOSCOW, March 4 (UPI) -- A Russian policeman-turned-convict bit off the tip of his tongue to avoid giving information that would help convict his alleged partners. Alexander Astapov, 39, was convicted last year of leading a group of former police officers in killing dozens of Moscow residents over the course of five years, the Moscow Times reported Thursday. Advertisement The group sought out Muscovites, killed them and seized their apartments. They then falsified ownership documents and sold the properties. The city prosecutor's office said Astapov bit off his tongue after his 2000 arrest and before police could question him, then hung a sign around his neck that read "I'm mute." Astapov has been declared mentally unfit and his conviction was set aside. He will stand trial again if he is declared mentally fit, the prosecutor's office said Wednesday. The competency hearing date has not been set. Astapov is hospitalized in a psychiatric ward, officials said.
