By the age of 18 he had committed his first murder: that of childhood friend Mikhail Odichuk. The hideous nature of his crimes has renewed interest in re-instituting Russia's death penalty. Pichushkin, it appeared, was trying to break a record for murders set by Andrei Chikatilo, who killed and mutilated 52 women and children between 1978 and 1990. Monster is jailed for life for murdering as many as 60 victims mainly in Moscow's Bitsa Park. His choice of victims kept him out of the eyes of the law, as they were men who had few, if any, living relatives or friends or other connections men whom few would miss. After striking Oditchuk over 20 times with the hammer, Pichuskin then dumped his body down a well and returned home to his mother's apartment as though nothing happened. Katie Serena is a New York City-based writer and a staff writer at All That's Interesting. [11], Moskalyova's body was discovered in Bitsa Park on 14 June 2006, complete with Pichushkin's trademark injuries. He moved on to killing younger men, as well as women and children. need your help for this. The Death of Junko Furuta. Alexander Pichushkin, who claimed to have killed 60 people, stood in a reinforced glass cage with his hands cuffed behind his back as a judge delivered the harshest possible punishment under . The death toll exceeds the 48 murdered by "chessboard killer" Alexander Pichushkin, and the 52 murdered by Andrei Chikatilo during the Soviet era. To quote him exactly: In all the years since the shooting, I have never come face-to-face with Franklin. The blows were usually enough to kill them, but other times, he would throw them down a well while they were still alive, sometimes not even using the hammer at all. Witness testimony provided to the police stated that Odtchuk was last seen with Pichushkin, walking in the direction of the park. . However, by 2005, killing old men by drowning them failed to satisfy the killer's murderous urges. ", 13 Unsettling Facts About Alexander Pichushkin, The Chessboard Killer. The story of 'chessboard killer' Alexander Pichushkin, who aimed to kill 64 people - one for each square on the board of the game - but was caught before he could complete his task. There, among the pixels, Pichushkin could be seen walking along with the woman who would be his final victim only the third woman he would kill, in addition to dozens of men. Alexander Pichushkin. As if proud of his crimes, Pichushkin said this at the trial, "I thought it would be unfair to forget about the other 11 people." Alexander Yuryevich Pichushkin, also known as The Chessboard Killer, is a Russian serial killer who has killed 48 people. 9. As his signature, hed push the vodka bottles into the gaping holes in their heads. Alexander Pichushkin: The Chessboard Killer. He lived there with his mother Natalia Elmouradovna, his younger half-sister, her husband, and their son in a two-bedroom apartment on the fifth floor. Detectives walked the suspect back into the woods and had him reenact on dummies more than two dozen murders, showing how he whacked his victims in the back of the head with a hammer and then jammed sticks and bottles into the wounds. A Russian supermarket worker, dubbed "the chessboard murderer", was convicted on Wednesday of killing 48 people after he confessed in court that the first time he took a life was like falling in love. Driven by a bizarre sexual urge and the thirst for power and attention, The Chessboard Killer threw Moscow into a fit of fear after his multi-year killing spree. While walking down Sunset Boulevard that morning, Rodney Alcala approached her in his vehicle and asked her if she wanted a ride. Alexander Yuryevich Sasha Pichushkin (Russian: , born 9 April 1974 in Mytishchi, Moscow Oblast), also known as The Chessboard Killer and The Bitsa Park Maniac, is a Russian serial killer. His goal was to kill at least 64 people (the same number of squares on a chessboard) so that he could surpass his idol, Andrei Chikatilo. Mytishchi, Moscow Oblast, Soviet Union (now Russia) I would love an hour in a room with him and a pair of wire-cutters and pliers, so I could inflict the same damage on him that he inflicted on me. "For me, life without murder is like life without food for you. 32-year-old Alexander Yuryevich Pichushkin was one of the only people still going to Bitsa Park. The unsolved murder of a 16-year-old girl still haunts the town of Warren, Massachusetts. . Pichushkin often shoved broken bottles of vodka into the gaping holes of his victims' skulls. On July 27, 1992, 18-year-old Pichushkin committed his first murder. which he described at his trial as "like the first time you fall in love" happened in 1992 when he was still in college. Next, check out these 21 chilling serial killer quotes. He proposed to her in a letter and the pair are planning to wed . The well was where he typically disposed of the bodies, but he later began leaving them out in the open. [19] During his trial, Pichushkin was housed in a glass cage for his own protection. During his trial, Pichushkin told the courts: "A first killing is like your first love. Obviously suspicious, the boy informed his father about this, who then proceeded to call the police. Alexander Pichushkin was born on April 9, 1974, near Moscow. What Pichushkin did not know was that shortly before going with him, Moskalyova had left a note for her son, telling him where she was going and who was with her. On February 23, 2002, he lured the pregnant saleswoman into Bitsa Park and pushed her into the same well where most of his victims were disposed of. I thought it would not be fair to forget about the other 11 people, he reasoned. Teresa Thornhill was one of the few known survivors of his attacks. According toBiography, the dates on the board corresponded to the dates on which Pichushkin had murdered his victims. An outstanding chess player, Pichushkin found a channel for his aggression when dominating the chessboard in all of his games. Pichushkin never completed his chessboard murders, but he did confess to killing 61 people. Once apprehended, the murderer not only admitted to his crimes, according to the TV documentary Serial Killers, he boasted of his crimes and even re-enacted some of them for the police. His trademark? He had some type of head injury around the age of 4 and spent time in an institute for the disabled as a child. Serial KillerNecrophiliac (possible)[1] Then, in a stunning boast, he revealed that she was not his only victim. REAL CRIMINAL The investigation also turned up a few people who, years earlier, had been attacked by a stranger in Bitsa and survived. He claims he killed more than 60 people but investigators didn't find evidence for all of them. By the spring of 2006, almost 50 people had vanished into them, never to be seen again. Oditchuk's body was discovered the next day and an investigation started. There appears to be some kernel of truth to this story. There was some evidence pointing to his guilt, but nothing ever came out of the investigation. Pichushkin was born on April 9, 1974 in the Russian part of the Soviet Union. Incarcerated. I felt like the father of all these people, since it was me who opened the door for them to another world," he said of his crimes, according to Time. [12], Upon conviction, Judge Vladimir Usov sentenced Pichushkin to life imprisonment, with the first fifteen years to be spent in solitary confinement. At 4, a blow to the head from a swing left the child with severe mood swings and rages. Pichushkin didnt continue killing until 2001, when he reportedly made a list of acquaintances he intended to murder: "The closer the person is to you, the more pleasant it is to kill them. To conceal the bodies, he often threw his victims into a sewer pit. However, Russia had instituted a moratorium on capital punishment by that time, so Pichushkin was instead sentenced to life in prison without parole, with the first 15 years to be spent in solitary confinement. Arrested on 16 June 2006 at age 33 years old, Russian serial killer Alexander Pichushkin was convicted of 48 murders and 3 attempted murders. She screamed and bit his arm, causing him to drop her just as a friend in the neighborhood came running up to help, scaring Black off. In 1992, 18-year-old Pichushkin invited one of his friends, Mikhail Odiychuk, with him on a "killing expedition." I killed in order to live, because when you kill, you want to live," he once said. This has left Steward torn between her belief that the death penalty is wrong in all cases, and her personal understanding of her fellow victims pain. But, I do not want to kill him, nor do I want to see him die. AFP/STRINGER/Getty ImagesAlexander PIchushkin is led into trial by a court guard. Pichushkin committed his final murder on June 14, 2006. To keep creating new content, we kindly appreciate any donation you can give to help the Murderpedia project stay alive. He always attacked his victims from behind, so they were taken by surprise. One year later, his father abandoned the family. The event caused lasting damage to his still-developing frontal cortex, the area of the brain that controls problem-solving, impulse regulation, and personality traits. His goal was to kill at least 64 people (the same number of squares on a chessboard) so that he could surpass his idol, Andrei Chikatilo. Pichushkin called his first murder "like first love. Pichushkin, like other serial killers, kept his own unique trophy to document his kills: a log with the . Since Pichushkin was still a child, the damage would have been more severe, as a child's forehead provides only a fraction of the protection for the brain compared to an adult's. REUTERS/Alexander Natruskin In 2002, Maria Viricheva 19 years old and three months pregnant met one of Russia's most infamous serial killers, Alexander Pichushkin , also known as The Chessboard Killer (when he was caught in 2007 and charged with 48 murders, authorities found a chessboard marked with the dates of his kills). The last thing she heard was her killer yell take a bath there! as she plummeted into the darkness. Criminal Minds Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. He is also famous for nearly being assassinated by one Joseph Paul Franklin in an attempt that left Mr. Flynt paralyzed from the waist down when he was hit by two bullets from Franklins high-powered rifle. Specifically, once chess stopped satisfying his aggressive urges, he turned to murder. Prior to this transfer, children from the mainstream school were known to have physically and verbally bullied Pichushkin, referring to him as "that retard". Police didn't . That was the start of his nightmare hobby. But, he said, he decided he had to kill her because if he didn't, "life would become torture for me.". However, as BBC News reported, he later recanted that statement, saying that he'd have continued well past those 64 had he not been caught first. Before she left, she wrote down the name of her companion Alexander Pichushkin and his phone number so her son could reach her. She was new at her job and had been set up with it by her boyfriend, who was also the father of her child. Pronin accompanied him, and they reached an isolated spot in the park. On May 17, 2001, Pichushkin was in Bitsa Park, playing chess with a man named Yevgeny Pronin. 48-60 killed3 attempted Scouring five years worth of missing-persons files was the only way to check his story. He started in the early 90s and often targeted elderly or transient men, some of which he had formerly played chess with, in the nearby park. located close to the local College. The young girl was also found to have been sexually assaulted. According to reports, the death of his grandfather greatly affected Pichushkin. Soon after, Pichushkin settled into a drab life as a supermarket shelf stacker, sharing an apartment with his mother and a few other relatives near Moscow's sprawling Bitsa Park. In 2006, authorities arrested Pichushkin for the murder of a female coworker. In Pichushkin's apartment, along with the chessboard, police found dozens of newspaper clips about the earlier killer, who was convicted in 1992 and executed two years later. Apprehended Their apartment building was a six-minute walk from the north end of Bitsa Park.[2]. [6][7] He later recanted this statement, saying that he would have continued killing indefinitely had he not been stopped. Unable to be sentenced to death after the suspension of the death penalty in Russia in 1996, he received a life sentence with the first 15 years to be spent in solitary confinement. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. Had she not done so, she would have reached the end of the drainpipe to a section that was completely filled with water and drowned. However, by 1992, this practice had become insufficient to satisfy his urges. Once alone, he would kill the men simply by tossing them into the city's sewers. It was on March 6, 1978, that both Mr. Flynt and his lawyer were shot by Franklin, who confessed in prison after being sentenced for another shooting in which he received the death penalty. As he was sitting up, the swing swung back and hit him in the forehead. Pichushkin would usually lure his victims with the promise of vodka or other promising items. Once they reached a spot that was relatively secluded, Gary Ridgway attacked her and tried to strangle her to death from behind. Researchers have found a link between such injuries and criminal violence. Polikarpov successfully climbed out, but he suffered head trauma, causing him to remember nothing about the attack. "In all cases I killed for only one reason. The jury deliberated for only three hours before finding him guilty of 48 counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder. Male Pichushkin's murderous impulses lay dormant for years until he began killing people in Moscow's Bittsevsky Park in the early 2000s. In an effort to both dull the pain of the loss as well as to calm his severe aggressive tendencies, he began to consume large quantities of vodka. However, as an adult, the urges that he once satisfied by manipulating pawns and queens were no longer quelled by friendly competition. . In 2007, Moscow police found a chessboard. After 40 years of silence, Rhonda Williams decided that enough was enough and finally worked up the courage to tell of her twisted involvement with one of Houstons most notorious serial killers. Pichushkin stood in a reinforced glass cage, his hands cuffed behind his back, while the judge read out the sentence Monday. "This first murder, it's like first love, it's unforgettable," he later said. In the late 1990s, the area around Bitsevsky Park became known as the hunting ground for a man the press called the Maniac. People would disappear into the woods in the park, into the tall birch trees just far enough away from the road that hiding behind them made one nearly invisible. He is believed to have killed at least 48 people and up to 61-63 people in southwest Moscow's Bitsa Park, where several of the victims' bodies were found. Once he got his victims to a secluded spot in a nearby forest, he would trick them into paying respect to his deceased dog. 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