On September 26, 1935, authorities in Jasi, Romania, announced the discovery of twenty-one corpses in various rural locations surrounding their town. The victims , all male, were reportedly slain by an unemployed youth named Tcaiuc, the crimes committed without rational motive. In custody, Tcaiuc confessed to the murders, insisting he had killed at the behest of his 17-year-old lover. In Tcaiuc's version of events, the girl would lure men into the woods around Jasi, whereupon Tcaiuc would attack and slay them from ambush. After each killing the lovers would bury their victims together, in the forest or beneath the floor of isolated houses. Sentenced to die, Tcaiuc continued to blame his companion for the crimes. "She influenced me like a demon," he told the court, "and I could not help myself."