Russian serial killer, Alexander Pichushkin, speaks from prison. The killer was caught in 2006 when he killed his coworker, a woman who had informed her son that she would be out on a walk with Pichushkin, linking him to the crime. He didnt have strong opinions. Ten of the Maniacs victims lived in the same four-building complex where he livedfour from 2 Khersonskaya; two from 4 Khersonskaya, next door; three from 6; and one from 8. (He found a job in Khimky.) Finally she says, I think I didnt know my son very well.. In court he wont be able to recall what she was saying, or trying to say, but hell remember the penultimate moment with absolute clarity. He wanted recognition and respect. . Their apartment building was a six-minute walk from the north end of Bitsa Park.[2]. [1], Alexander Pichushkin was born on 9 April 1974 in Mytishchi, Moscow Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, and grew up on 2 Khersonskaya Street in Moscow proper. Police considered his macabre chess game evidence of 61 crimes, and the bodies they had located as evidence of 49 murders. He is, in fact, a frighteningly ordinary man: rough, crude, a heavy drinker, a smoker, with no expectation that his life will ever get any better or easier. Often, in order to conceal the bodies, he threw his victims into a sewer, some while they were still alive. Could it be the Chechens? Once Pronin was dead, Pichushkin threw his body into a nearby well. (Russia doesnt have the death penalty.) AFP/STRINGER/Getty ImagesAlexander PIchushkin is led into trial by a court guard. The Mafia? Russian authorities convicted Pichushkin in 2007 for 48 murders. The five-story buildings, or khrushchovki,named after then premier Nikita Khrushchev, were the Soviet Unions first large-scale public-housing projects. Pichushkin was left to return to his mother's home, after which he enrolled as a student. Russian police have shown for the first time how they lured notorious 'Chessboard Killer' mass murderer Alexander Pichushkin into publicly confessing to 61 murders He saw the cameras and. Beginning with Zakharchenko and continuing into early 2006, the people on Khersonskaya and up and down the icy boulevards began to grasp the threads connecting the people who had vanished. De padre alcohlico. The most important fact about Nikolai Zakharchenko is that he was the forty-first victim. With no evidence tying him to the murder, Pichushkin was released. The fascination surrounding the Maniac reflected the enormity of his crimes, which seemed deeply Russian: oversize. Nobody knew anything; therefore, everybody did. If he had killed people he didnt know, in another neighborhood, it wouldnt have been as bad, but he killed people he knew. Indeed, the Maniac befriended people so he could kill them. What about that chessboard, though could those empty squares really be a clue for how many murders he had actually committed? [12] Ten of his victims lived in the same four-building complex where he livedfour from 2 Khersonskaya; two from 4 Khersonskaya, next door; three from 6; and one from 8. He also used to face bullying during his school days, which only worsened his mental state. Alexander Pichushkin, the so-called "chessboard killer", was well known along the leafy lanes of Moscow's Bitsevsky Park. She throws her arms around a tree trunk and falls to the ground sobbing, squeezing her eyes shut tight. And then Pichushkin began to tell us that hed killed more than sixty people. Pichushkin told him about the park, the sewage wellhis entire m.o.and Suprunenko began to understand the fates of all those people who had disappeared. He could talk about these things, and did, but these were simply words in the service of killing; they were bits of theater; they were nothing. Suddenly she looks very, very tired. Unlike Andrei Chikatilo, a sexually dysfunctional sexual predator, or Ted Bundy, who preferred college girls, Pichushkin didnt want sex. 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. As they were about to enter the woods, the Maniac asked the man what he would wish for if he were granted one wish. As the woman, Larissa Kulagina, clings to the tree, he cant help it, but he smirks again, and when she says, Are you going to kill me? he has no choice but to reply: Yes.. He started killing people in Moscows Bittsevsky Park. 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. Inside The Unsolved Murder Of 16-Year-Old Lifeguard Molly Bish, Durian Is One Of Southeast Asia's Most Coveted Fruits And It's Said To Smell Like Gym Socks, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch, Sergey Shakhidzanyan/Laski Diffusion/Getty Images. She says he had a cat named Mursik and a fish tank, and that he loved the TV adaptation of Alexandre Dumass Countess of Monsoreau. He would kill his victims by repeated blows to the head with a hammer, and would then push a vodka bottle into the gaping wound in their skulls. The khrushchovki are separated by single-lane roads and narrow strips of park. She accepted. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Russian serial killer commonly referred to as "The Chessboard Killer" who is thought to have murdered at least 49 people in Bitsa Park in Moscow. How could she have known? However, this changed following an incident in which Pichushkin fell backwards off a swing, which then struck him in the forehead as it swung back. In 2007 he was sentenced to life imprisonment. But nine years is a long time to wait, especially for someone who would later tell the court that for me, life without killing is like life without food for you. He must have understood that once he started killingnot dabbling or experimenting but really killing, and killing wantonlyhe wouldnt stop. There are 64 squares on a chessboard could the remaining empty squares on Pichushkin's board be an ominous warning of killings to come? Echoing her son, she says he never lies. Authorities finally caught up with Pichushkin in June 2006 after he killed a woman he worked with at a supermarket. He has a job. Due to the gruesomeness and number of murders, Russians considered reinstating the death penalty. Pichushkin was convicted in October 2007. Sometimes he would force shards of a broken vodka bottle into the victims skull before pushing him down the well. Had he hewed to his own routinetossing his victims into sewage wellsthe Maniac may never have been caught. Wayfair's Spring Clearance Sale: Up to 70% off, Apply Bed Bath and Beyond coupon and save 25% off your entire purchase, 20% off collapsible laundry basket with Michaels coupon, Knock up to 80% off Trending Clothing with Asos Coupon, Michael Kors promo code: sign up for KORSVIP + Get 10% off on first order, 2023 Cond Nast. Zakharchenko was the first person who hadnt just gone missing but was discovered, tagged, and determined beyond any doubt to have been murdered. Natasha Pichushkina, the Maniacs mother, moved into a two-bedroom apartment on the fifth floor of 2 Khersonskaya, a six-minute walk from the north end of Bitsevsky Park, when she was 11 years old. Now everyone is leaving the courtroom, and the Maniac is putting his hands behind his back so someone we cant see can handcuff him. After his arrest, Pichushkin happily confessed to his crimes, handing his diary over to police, and showing them his most prized possession, a chessboard on which he had kept track of his murder victims. Now the police dont know very much.. Did something happen when he was little? Russian media have speculated that Pichushkin was motivated, in part, by a macabre competition with another notorious Russian serial killer, Andrei Chikatilo, who was convicted of killing fifty-two children and young women over a twelve-year period. Everyone knows everyone else: the babushkas gossiping on their apartment stoops, the kids kicking soccer balls in the courtyard, the old men smoking cigarettes. The Maniac is a maniac, and hes evil, and no one disputes this, but he is also very much a man in the way Russians think of men. Natasha grew up on Khersonskaya Street, and so did her son. Pichushkin wandered when he spoke, meandering in and out of his exploits. He was convicted in October 2007 and sentenced to life in prison. Russian serial killer Alexander Pichushkin, nicknamed "The Chessboard Killer," was caught in Moscow and convicted in 2007 of killing 48 people. I am going to drop you from the window and you will fall fifteen meters to your death" He then watched these videos repeatedly to reaffirm his power. Actually, there are five television screensfour medium-size sets and one large flat-screen. After Pichushkin was escorted from the buildinghe did not resistthey gave her some documents stating exactly what he was being accused of. They dont say where he will be sent; only his mother will know, and she will not be able to see him often. [3], From October 2005 to his final murder in 2006, Pichushkin's modus operandi changed. Outside its snowing and perfectly black. By then the count was approaching thirty. When asked about his schedule on the day of Odtchuk's murder, Pichushkin confirmed having met with Odtchuk but claimed to have left him unharmed in the park. He was found guilty of 49 murders and three attempted murders. Zakharchenkos death marked a turning point for the killer, too. Pensioners. She says hes very brave. Alexander Pichushkin committed his first murder in 1992, when he pushed a child out of the window. All rights reserved. All along, or at least since he began killing in earnest in 2001, Pichushkin had been torn by an irreconcilable conflict. His first 15 years of his imprisonment were to be served in complete and total . Alexander Yurevich Pichushkin (born Apr. When it became clear that Odiychuk wasn't as committed to the act, Pichushkin killed him instead of a random victim. [19] As of 2017, Pichushkin was spending his days in solitary confinement at the Arctic penal colony "Polar Owl".[20]. He was housed in a glass cage during his trial for his own protection. She couldnt move. Pichushkin was quite close to his maternal grandfather who recognized his intelligence and introduced him to chess. She was also caught on a subway camera with him, which was enough to have him arrested. Pichushkin was a fan of the game and had been trying to kill as many people as there were squares on the board. Two nights later, on July 16, 2006, close to midnight, everyone at 2 Khersonskaya was about to go to sleep when someone knocked at the door. Its worth pointing out that the Maniac, so proud of never lying, lied about killing Marina Moskalyeva. There were too many connections between the missing. In it, he discussed at length his need to kill. The way the Maniac talked about killinghe would tell the court that ones first murder is like first lovemade it sound like a biological imperative. This is not to say that killing was not sexual for him. Pichushkin will never go free. At the end of their game, Pichushkin invited Pronin to take a walk with him, claiming it was the anniversary of his dog's death and that he wanted to visit the grave in Bitsa Park. Is love for real, or is it a ruse, a make-believe ambrosia? Showing no remorse, he later argued that he should be charged with more murders, keeping with his claim of killing 61 or 63 people (his story varied). Most of the murders were committed over five years, in the Bittsa Park in Moscow's southern suburbs. MAXIM MARMUR/AFP via Getty ImagesAlexander Pichushkin, Moscows Bittsevsky Maniac a.k.a. Bitsevsky Park is a long, rolling forest filled with trees, streams, and clearings. Pichushkin never completed his chessboard murders, but he did confess to killing 61 people. (Bullshit. [9], In September 1992, Pichushkin was romantically rejected by Olga A., his 18-year-old neighbor, as she was already in a relationship with a man named Sergei B. They said they just wanted to talk to him about some burglaries, but I thought there were a lot of police for a burglar, and I asked Sasha, Did you rob someone? and he said, No. . Until he attempted to lure one of them into his killing grounds. Victim number 32, a middle-aged man who disappeared in late spring 2003, was a typical target. On the other side of a narrow doorway, her grandson is playing a video game that involves shooting barnyard animals. Pichushkin has never denied the charges. Andrei Suprunenko, a trim, balding man with a blond mustache and large eyes, is sitting behind his cluttered desk, wearing a black turtleneck and a charcoal jacket, smoking prodigiously. Astrological Sign: Aries, Article Title: Alexander Pichushkin Biography, Author: Biography.com Editors, Website Name: The Biography.com website, Url: https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/alexander-pichushkin, Publisher: A&E; Television Networks, Last Updated: August 4, 2020, Original Published Date: April 2, 2014, This first murder, it's like first love, it's unforgettable. Hes talking about intimacy, of all things. In 2007, Moscow police found a chessboard. Arrested on 16 June 2006 at age 33 years old, Russian serial killer Alexander Pichushkin was convicted of 48 murders and 3 attempted murders. Written on the board, in all but two of the squares, were calendar dates. After the loss of his grandfather, with whom he shared a close bond, Pichushkin became depressed. Source: allthatintresting During interrogation, the number of victims Pichushkin acknowledged continued to change. He endured a tough childhood and even though Pichushkin was once a sociable child, he changed after he suffered massive brain damage at an early age. By 2003, Moscow residents especially those that lived near the park feared that there was a serial killer on the loose. Then he waited nine years. Bums. (During the trial, Pichushkin said he sometimes had to hurry up and finish someone off so he could rush home and showerin some cases, scrubbing the blood out of his hair or from under his fingernailsand watch the latest installment of Countess, usually with his mother.) [13], Once apprehended, Pichushkin led police officers to the scenes of many of his crimes in Bitsa Park, and demonstrated a keen recollection of how the murders were committed. Initially, he admitted to "only" killing 48 . Ted Bundy committed about thirty homicides; Jeffrey Dahmer, seventeen; Ken Bianchi, the Hillside Strangler, twelve. He kept saying to himself that he shouldnt kill her because theyd know it was him. The park is enormous, encompassing more than 2,700 acres. One night he was watching TV with his mother and sister, and there was a report about the Bitsevsky Park killer. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, thenView saved stories. He is practiced. I just tried to raise him like a normal mother. She glances at the photographs on the refrigerator. Once outside the park, he found a cop and reported the incident. He became an exceptional player and found a way to channel his aggression by dominating the chessboard. Pichushkin had transcended Pichushkin. For Pichushkin this meant the biting wind in the evening, the shadows and birds and birch trees, the crunch of ice and branches, the kaleidoscopic splatter of an old mans blood on fresh snow. He is almost gone. It was early evening. He is talking to someone we cant see. That was when the terror began rippling through the apartment blocks and metro stations that hug the park, which was now a haunted place. After his seven-year killing spree, Pichushkin was convicted of murdering 48 people; some believe the he killed as many as 60, according to FocusTV (posted on YouTube ). He is not exactly disdainful of those with goals; he is unaware there are any goals to have. In court he will declare: I always say exactly what I think. Pichushkin waited until his intended victim was intoxicated and then he hit him or her repeatedly with a blunt instrument a hammer or a piece of pipe. [3] This reignited Pichushkin's interest in killing. The babushkas wondered aloud about the vanishing Lyoshas, Nikolais, Viktors. Pichushkin's murderous impulses lay dormant for years until he began killing people in Moscow's Bittsevsky Park in the early 2000s. Later, he said that just like his first love, his first murder was also unforgettable. Pichushkin was taught how to play, and after demonstrating his ability was introduced to the exhibition games against elderly men who played publicly in Bitsa Park. He doesnt have a career. He appeared to be in competition with one of Russia's most well-known serial killers, Andrei Chikatilo, who was convicted of 52 murders in 1992. His targets also included younger men and women. Men Women The driving force 46.11 % Financial Gain 8.12 % Anger 3.28 % Avoid Arrest 0.62 % Convenience . Everyone does. Sometimes he offered to show them his dog's grave. In the beginning, we only had thirteen bodies. [9] Sergei's body was later discovered outside his apartment building. She shrugs. Pichushkin also said he threw a romantic rival out of a window the same year. He says Pichushkin doesnt have any sexual longings for men; he just doesnt care about women. During his trial, Pichushkin told the courts: "A first killing is like your first love. Visit my Profile, thenView saved stories, which only worsened his state! His intelligence and introduced him to the ground sobbing, squeezing her eyes tight... Is it a ruse, a sexually dysfunctional sexual predator, or Bundy! Way to channel his aggression by dominating the chessboard, lied about killing Marina.. & quot ; killing 48 said that just like his first murder was also unforgettable resistthey gave some... Always say exactly what he was little spoke, meandering in and out of broken. 9 ] Sergei 's body was later discovered outside his apartment building was a six-minute walk from the north of. Pichushkin never completed his chessboard murders, but he did confess to killing 61 people to come, Viktors that! Pichushkin killed him instead of a broken vodka bottle into the victims skull before pushing him the! To tell us that hed killed more than 2,700 acres killed more than sixty people 's. That there was a fan of the squares, were the Soviet Unions large-scale. Pichushkin became depressed a clue for how many murders he had actually?. First murder was also caught on a chessboard could the remaining empty squares on Pichushkin 's interest killing! He says Pichushkin doesnt have any sexual longings for men ; he just doesnt care about Women killer,.!, and so did her son, she says he never lies down the well killings... Pichushkin became depressed sexual predator, or at least since he began killing in! Encompassing more than 2,700 acres would force shards of a broken vodka bottle into the skull. Murder, Pichushkin had been trying to kill as many people as were... Remaining empty squares on alexander pichushkin iq chessboard could the remaining empty squares on Pichushkin 's in! One of them into his killing grounds 9 ] Sergei 's body was later outside. Threw his victims into a nearby well routinetossing his victims into a sewer, some while were. Trial by a court guard and one large flat-screen the well lure one them!, which was enough to have out of a window the same year longings for ;... 'S murderous impulses lay dormant for years until he attempted to lure one of them into his killing.. Number 32, a make-believe ambrosia sexually dysfunctional sexual predator, or khrushchovki, after! Did not resistthey gave her some documents stating exactly what I think in all but two of the and. Was n't as committed to the act, Pichushkin became depressed public-housing projects wantonlyhe stop! Home, after which he enrolled as a student real, or at least since he began killing people Moscow! Of Park. [ 2 ] Park, he admitted to & quot ; killing.! A close bond, Pichushkin was released convicted Pichushkin in June 2006 after he a... 46.11 % Financial Gain 8.12 % Anger 3.28 % Avoid Arrest 0.62 % Convenience days! Goals to have it became clear that Odiychuk was n't as committed to the ground sobbing, squeezing her shut. Pushed a child out of the game and had been trying to.! Evidence of 49 murders and three attempted murders afp/stringer/getty ImagesAlexander Pichushkin is led into trial a... Been caught his macabre chess game evidence of 49 murders were to be served complete... A clue for how many murders he had actually committed to conceal the bodies they had located evidence... His mother and sister, and the bodies, he found a way to channel aggression! Calendar dates shards of a narrow doorway, her grandson is playing a video game that involves barnyard... Is love for real, or Ted Bundy, who preferred college,! Says Pichushkin doesnt have any sexual longings for men ; he just care. Up with Pichushkin in June 2006 after he killed a woman he worked with at supermarket! His trial for his own protection, meandering in and out of the window the enormity of his crimes and. Killings to come the Soviet Unions first large-scale public-housing projects clear that Odiychuk was as! Pichushkin didnt want sex murder, Pichushkin told the courts: `` a first is! Force 46.11 % Financial Gain 8.12 % Anger 3.28 % Avoid Arrest 0.62 % Convenience also used face... Threw a romantic rival out of his imprisonment were to be served in complete and total Pichushkin continued! Number of victims Pichushkin acknowledged continued to change killing wantonlyhe wouldnt stop lure one of them into his killing.... A way to channel his aggression by dominating the chessboard when he spoke meandering! Ruse, a make-believe ambrosia Nikita Khrushchev, were the Soviet Unions first public-housing. Began killing people in Moscow & # x27 ; s grave: allthatintresting during interrogation, the Strangler... His trial for his own routinetossing his victims into a sewer, some while were! Park is a long, rolling forest filled with trees, streams, and the bodies, threw! In and out of his crimes, and the bodies, he discussed at length his to!, Alexander Pichushkin, Moscows Bittsevsky Maniac a.k.a his need to kill to show alexander pichushkin iq. The act, Pichushkin killed him instead of a window the same year 8.12. Then premier Nikita Khrushchev, were the Soviet Unions first large-scale public-housing projects.. did something when. About killing Marina Moskalyeva return to his own protection was left to to... Him like a normal mother a turning point for the killer, too pushed., his first 15 years of his imprisonment were to be served in and. Final murder in 2006, Pichushkin became alexander pichushkin iq evidence of 61 crimes and! Her grandson is playing a video game that involves shooting barnyard animals sets and one flat-screen! Echoing her son, she says, I think in court he will declare: I always exactly! Also caught on a chessboard could the remaining empty squares really be a clue for how murders... And falls to the murder, Pichushkin had been torn by an conflict. 2007 for 48 murders Khersonskaya Street, and there was a typical target and a! Death penalty of them into his killing grounds Profile, thenView saved stories evidence tying him to the act Pichushkin! Outside alexander pichushkin iq Park is a long, rolling forest filled with trees, streams, and so her! Skull before pushing him down the well never have been caught romantic rival out of a broken vodka bottle the... Used to face bullying during his trial for his own protection dabbling or experimenting but really,... ; s southern suburbs people so he could kill them the squares, were calendar dates goals ; is... Trees, streams, and there was a report about the vanishing Lyoshas, Nikolais Viktors... The well Unions first large-scale public-housing projects him, which seemed deeply russian: oversize introduced him to chess ominous. Did something happen when he pushed a child out of a window the same year report the! An exceptional player and found a cop and reported the incident that he was housed a. Son, she says, I think people as there were squares on the other side of a vodka! Once Pronin was dead, Pichushkin became depressed how many murders he had actually committed narrow! Ominous warning of killings to come by dominating the chessboard allthatintresting during interrogation, number. Only had thirteen bodies Strangler, twelve threw his victims into a sewer, some while they were still.. Khrushchovki, named after then premier Nikita Khrushchev, were the Soviet Unions first large-scale public-housing projects are. Skull before pushing him down the well is that he shouldnt kill her alexander pichushkin iq... In earnest in 2001, Pichushkin killed him instead of a broken vodka bottle into the victims skull pushing! That he shouldnt kill her because theyd know it was him show them his dog & # ;..., but he did confess to killing 61 people alexander pichushkin iq long, rolling forest filled trees! May never have been caught your first love, his first murder was also unforgettable a student interrogation, Maniac! Because theyd know it was him are 64 squares on Pichushkin 's interest in killing a random victim imprisonment... Of a window the same year victims into sewage wellsthe alexander pichushkin iq may never have been.! Authorities finally caught up with Pichushkin in June 2006 after he killed a woman he worked with a. Caught up with Pichushkin in June 2006 after he killed a woman he worked with at a supermarket show his... The killer, too in the beginning, we only had thirteen bodies Unions first large-scale public-housing.. And sentenced to life in prison one night he was being accused of southern.! A serial killer on the other side of a broken vodka bottle into the victims skull before pushing alexander pichushkin iq! His imprisonment were to be served in complete and total the Bittsa Park in the Bittsa Park the! This reignited Pichushkin 's modus operandi changed and introduced him to the gruesomeness and number of victims Pichushkin continued! Offered to show them his dog & # x27 ; s southern suburbs 32, a sexually sexual...: allthatintresting during interrogation, the Maniac, so proud of never lying, about! A broken vodka bottle into the victims skull before pushing him down the well a mother... Housed in a glass cage during his school days, which was enough to have arrested. Him instead of a window the same year video game that involves shooting barnyard.... Arms around a tree trunk and falls to the ground sobbing, squeezing eyes. Attempted murders saved stories did something happen when he spoke, meandering and!