Is love for real, or is it a ruse, a make-believe ambrosia? But now he doesnt. Sometimes he would force shards of a broken vodka bottle into the victims skull before pushing him down the well. 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. 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. After that she had a hard time saying anything. Due to his behavior, Pichushkin's mother decided to transfer him from the mainstream school he had been attending to one for children with learning disabilities. 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. He doesnt know where he is. The maniac lumbers through a silent forest. Natasha grew up on Khersonskaya Street, and so did her son. [7], Pichushkin's first murder occurred on 27 July 1992, when he was aged 18. "[16], Pichushkin was convicted on 24 October 2007 of forty-nine murders and three attempted murders. Feeling teased by his best friend, Pichushkin pulled a hammer out of his bag and delivered about twenty blows to Odtchuk's head, killing him. Contents 1 Background 2 Killings, Capture, and Incarceration 3 Modus Operandi 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. Pichushkin was a fan of the game and had been trying to kill as many people as there were squares on the board. He was housed in a glass cage during his trial for his own protection. Pichushkin was active in Moscow's Bitsa Park, where a number of the victims' bodies were found. She throws her arms around a tree trunk and falls to the ground sobbing, squeezing her eyes shut tight. This spree within a spree culminated on July 21, when victim 11, Victor Volkov, disappeared. Alexander Pichushkin 48 Top in United States United States 1974 -1978 John Wayne Gacy United States United States 28 Surrounding it are tens of thousands of people living in sprawling, rusting apartment blocks speckled with satellite dishes. 9, 1974) is a Russian serial killer and sadist who was raised in a seemingly stable household lead by his stepfather, mother, and shared with two half-siblings. Could it have been his fathers abandonment of the family? Pichushkin was born on April 9, 1974, in Mytishchi, Moscow. Victim number 32, a middle-aged man who disappeared in late spring 2003, was a typical target. What emerged from months of plying Pichushkin with sandwiches and cigarettes, months of pretending that he was an evil genius, was not the Hollywood-style maniac everyone had imagined but an empty vessel, someone no one could organize into a tidy psychological portrait. Pichushkin also revealed that some of the murders he committed were not done using his preferred method (hammer blows to the back of the head), but by throwing his victims down into the sewer lines beneath Bitsa Park (although one of his victims did survive this ordeal). There appears to be some kernel of truth to this story. Natasha Pichushkina is sitting on her sons bed in the familys apartment, and she is crying. The grounds extend from Balaklavski Prospekt, a boulevard on the north end, to the MKAD, the multilane beltway that encircles Moscow, four miles south. 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. The jury deliberated for only three hours before finding him guilty of 48 counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder. Alexander Yuryevich Pichushkin, also known as The Chessboard Killer, is a Russian serial killer who has killed 48 people. 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. In the months following his July 2006 arrest, Alexander Yurievich Pichushkin, now 35, achieved his only goal: Around the world, he was hailed as a monster. [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. Once outside the park, he found a cop and reported the incident. 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. An outstanding chess player, Pichushkin found a channel for his aggression when dominating the chessboard in all of his games. 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). Later, he said that just like his first love, his first murder was also unforgettable. (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.) While the police did question him in the case, it was later declared a suicide. Nashyol rabotu v Khimkax. With his conviction and sentencing, it seemed the Pichushkin nightmare might be over for the people of Moscow. 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. [9] Sergei's body was later discovered outside his apartment building. "For me, a life without murder is like a life without food for you," Pichushkin reportedly said. Who is he? And Pichushkin had to fight very hardhe was practically burstingnot to tell her she was sitting right next to him. He was convicted in October 2007 and sentenced to life in prison. Then he said he was busy and hung up. Ad Choices, Russia had never seen anything quite like the prolific serial killer, The 20 Best New Menswear Items to Buy This Week, The Serial Killer Has Second Thoughts: The Confessions of Thomas Quick, J.Crew Makes Killer Suede Jackets Now, Too, Jack Black's Beard Is Coming In Quite Nicely. You never forget it.". That was when the terror began rippling through the apartment blocks and metro stations that hug the park, which was now a haunted place. To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories. In court he will declare: I always say exactly what I think. Of the 64 squares, only 61 of them were filled in. They were dank, charmless, and overflowing with tenants, but they were the first single-family homes most of these people had ever lived in. Nacido el 9 de abril de 1974 en Mytishchi, (ciudad cercana a Mosc) durante el periodo de la antigua Unin Sovitica, Alexander Pichushkin tuvo una infancia muy complicada. She had told him that shed left a note for her son saying she was with Sasha Pichushkin. Initially, he admitted to "only" killing 48 . Hes talking about intimacy, of all things. As he aired his confession to the police, the number of victims changed over and over. [11] Occasionally, he would then "sign" the corpse by impaling the victim's skull with sticks or an empty vodka bottle. Written on the board, in all but two of the squares, were calendar dates. Investigators were only able to link him to 48 murders, however, and based on that conviction, that's where his gruesome total stands. [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. Around the time of Chikatilo's trial in 1992, Pichushkin committed his first murder. She cupped it while he lit the match, then laughed at something he said. Bums. On October 24, 2007, Alexander Pichushkin was found guilty of murdering forty-eight people. Once Odtchuk was dead, Pichushkin deposited his body near a sewer entrance at Bitsa Park, then returned to his mother's apartment a short distance away. He is practiced. He also later claimed that had he not been stopped, the number would have only climbed. He received life in prison without parole. Best Known For: Russian serial killer Alexander Pichushkin, nicknamed "The Chessboard Killer," was caught in Moscow and convicted in 2007 of killing 48 people. What's for certain, though, is that there may be a handful of missing person cases in Moscow that will one day be linked to the Chessboard Killer. Now that corpses were appearing regularly, there were policesome in uniform, some in plain clothesscouring the park twenty-four hours a day. 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. When future-serial killer Alexander Pichushkin was a child, he fell backward off of a swing. Viricheva said she didnt have any papers. He always took his victims to one of two wells that connected to the citys vast sewer system. Finally, everyone but 32 disappeared, heading inside to their apartments or ducking into the grocery store. Suprunenko says he always stared straight at Pichushkin. [19] As of 2017, Pichushkin was spending his days in solitary confinement at the Arctic penal colony "Polar Owl".[20]. The man had been smoking and drinking on a bench, legs crossed, next to a bus stop around the corner from Pichushkins apartment. From award-winning writing and photography to binge-ready videos to electric live events, GQ meets millions of modern men where they live, creating the moments that create conversations. . The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Later he claimed that killing his victims made him feel like God since he could decide whether they would live or not. There was fear, which led to speculation. 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. Alexander Pichushkin, 42, is the worst serial killer to emerge in Russia since the end of Soviet times. After Pichushkin was escorted from the buildinghe did not resistthey gave her some documents stating exactly what he was being accused of. He was arrested on 16th June 2006, and was eventually convicted in October the following year. She couldnt focus. People talked about hearing shouts and cries echoing through the trees. This Is How Many Victims Alexander Pichushkin Actually Had. Now he is talking, but its impossible to make out what hes saying. Throughout the trial, he insisted that hed actually taken sixty-three lives, but authorities could muster evidence to prosecute him for only four dozen. They were kind to me, she says. The fascination surrounding the Maniac reflected the enormity of his crimes, which seemed deeply Russian: oversize. How could she have known? According to Pichushkin, his girlfriend Olga broke up with him and began dating his friend Sergei. 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. Until he attempted to lure one of them into his killing grounds. But after Zakharchenko, the conflict inside the Maniac began to seethe and overflow. His final victim, a woman from the store, was suspicious enough of his request. He laughs for a momenthis laughter is brief and infrequentand then the grin morphs into a frown, which morphs into a look of incredulity, which morphs into another stare. He started by killing elderly and homeless men, mostly in a Moscow park, and had moved on to killing his neighbors, before getting caught in 2006. Alexander Pichushkin a Russian serial killer known as the Chessboard Killer and The Bitsa Park Maniac. Alexander Pichushkin, Moscows Bittsevsky Maniac a.k.a. Andrei Suprunenko, the detective who led the Pichushkin investigation for the prosecutor generals Department of Homicide and Armed Robbery in Moscow, also rules out the possibility that the Maniac is homosexual. We were in shock when we realized how many people hed killed, he says. In November 2005, a 63-year-old ex-cop named Nikolai Zakharchenko turned up dead in the woods. Only a few recent serial killers have been as prolific, including Andrei Chikatilo, also Russian, convicted of fifty-two murders in 1994, and Yang Xinhai, who took sixty-seven lives in central China from 1999 to 2003. There are 64 squares on a chessboard could the remaining empty squares on Pichushkin's board be an ominous warning of killings to come? Now she is sitting in her apartment at 8 Khersonskaya, which is identical to Natasha Pichushkinas at 2 Khersonskaya, smoking Vogue cigarettes and talking about him. (Millions of Russian citizens live in Moscow quasi-illegally; jobs outside the capital are scarce.) 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. 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 ). Only two, or possibly three, of his victims were women. With his black button-down shirt and black T-shirt, he looks almost fashionable. His first 15 years of his imprisonment were to be served in complete and total . For the serial killer, the process of preparing to kill and killing is an erotic experience, says Alexander Bukhanovsky, a psychiatrist and serial-killer expert who helped authorities find Chikatilo in the early 1990s. The cops told her that if she stayed quiet about her attack, theyd overlook her illegal habitation. Viricheva stayed quiet. Pronin accompanied him to an isolated area in Bitsa Park, whereupon Pichushkin pulled out a bottle of vodka and offered him a drink. He eventually left the bodies in the open to be discovered, and also left broken vodka bottles sticking out of the skulls of some of his victims. Somehow, however, people kept disappearing. Following his arrest the police discovered a. Except for his mother and Suprunenko, almost everyone else is here at the recently renovated Supreme Court of Russia, on Povarskaya Street in the center of Moscow: Natasha Fyedosova, Pichushkins lawyer Pavel Ivannikov, the panel of three judges, the prosecutor in his royal blue military-style uniform, the babushkas who lost sons and husbands, the younger men and girls whispering into their cell phones, too scared to look at the Maniac, who looks bored, then amused, then angry. [2], In June 2006, Pichushkin offered to go for a walk with his 36-year-old coworker, Marina Moskalyova. The rumors metastasized. 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. Until the night he was arrested, he lived most of his life at 2 Khersonskaya, where he slept on a couch in the first bedroom, which doubled as the living room. The babushkas wondered aloud about the vanishing Lyoshas, Nikolais, Viktors. The most important fact about Nikolai Zakharchenko is that he was the forty-first victim. Pichushkin, filled with an enormous excitement, made his approach. In this case, he did not say what he and 32 discussed before he attacked. A few hours later, when Moskalyeva hadnt come home and her son was watching TV and saw that theyd found a womans body in the park, he called his father, who then called the police. Pichushkin would approach his victim in Bitsa Park (the vast majority of them elderly homeless people),[10] offer to share a drink of vodka, and then kill themtypically by striking the back of their skull with a hammer or a bottle, although he was also alleged to have pushed his victims into the sewage canal to drown. During the spring of 2006, he killed Marina Moskalyova, who would be his last victim. You should take them, she says. Alexander Yurevich Pichushkin (born Apr. he is a sallow-faced man with a stout physique and a deep, low voice. "I thought it would be unfair to forget about the other 11 people," Pichushkin reportedly commented during his 2007 trial. All the victims family members, the prosecutors, almost everyone with any connection to the case, say Suprunenko and his team did a superb job. _Da, ladno. Again they told him to leave. The khrushchovki are separated by single-lane roads and narrow strips of park. This was strange; usually you had to hit the buzzer to get into the building. Alexander Pichushkin was given the highest punishment under Russian law. After the loss of his grandfather, with whom he shared a close bond, Pichushkin became depressed. The Disturbing Story Of Alexander Pichushkin, The Russian Chessboard Killer Who Strove To Kill 64 Victims. Though he was no longer picky about who his victims were, he seemed to prefer the old homeless men. Russian serial killer Alexander Pichushkin, nicknamed "The Chessboard Killer," was caught in Moscow and convicted in 2007 of killing 48 people. By 2003, Moscow residents especially those that lived near the park feared that there was a serial killer on the loose. (During the trial hell have this to say about intimacy: The closer a person is to you and the better you know them, the more pleasurable it is to kill them.) They can hear trails of moving laughter somewhere far away, other people carousing, but here, in this particular swath of woods, there are only trees and shadows. There had been other lies, of course, countless tiny deceptions meant to lure his victims into the park, but no one had ever asked Pichushkin point-blank if he had ever killed anyone. He may even have tried to quash it. The maniac preferred men. Pensioners. Shes a small woman, about five four, with dyed reddish-purplish hair, a weak voice, and a sickliness that seems ironed into her face. Pichushkin is incarcerated in the Arctic penal colony "Polar Owl" and spends his days in solitary confinement. Bitsevsky Park is a long, rolling forest filled with trees, streams, and clearings. At least thirteen corpses (including, possibly, that of victim 32) are believed to be stuck somewhere in the sewage system. What about that chessboard, though could those empty squares really be a clue for how many murders he had actually committed? Sometimes he offered to show them his dog's grave. I just tried to raise him like a normal mother. She glances at the photographs on the refrigerator. That chessboard belonged to Alexander Pichushkin, otherwise known as "The Chessboard Killer," one of the most notorious serial killers in Russian history. 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