News on the Bitsa-maniac

This isn't exactly news, and I was surprised when I found nothing on this on the forum, especially since cops who misbehave are frequently mentioned. Anyway, there's this on the Pichushkin case. It basically states the same thing as in previous articles, but at least his trial has begun by now.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Russian serial killer says murder is like love

By Conor Sweeney

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian man accused of murdering 49 people asked a court on Tuesday to add another eleven victims to his tally, and told a jury when he first strangled a man it was like falling in love for the first time.

Supermarket worker Alexander Pichushkin, 33, has been branded the 'chessboard murderer' by Russian newspapers because he hoped to put a coin on every square of a 64-place chessboard for each murder.

"A first killing is like your first love. You never forget it," he said from a cage in the courtroom, after explaining how he started killing at age 18 with the murder of a classmate.

Pichushkin said he had suggested to his classmate that they kill someone, but when his friend refused, "I sent him to heaven." He then smirked at the jury.

"The closer a person is to you, and the better you know them, the more pleasurable it is to kill them," he said.

"In all the cases I killed for only one reason. I killed in order to live, because when you kill, you want to live."

Often aggressive in court, Pichushkin gesticulated to show the jury how he strangled his victims and the marks his victims had left on his hands as they struggled.

Prosecutors have charged Pichushkin with 49 murders and three attempted murders, but he asked the court to take into account another 11 murders.

"I thought it would not be fair to forget about the other 11 people," Pichushkin told the court.

Prosecutors say he lured most of his victims to secluded parts of Moscow's Bitsevsky Park, where he plied them with vodka and then smashed their skulls with a hammer.

Other victims were strangled, drowned in a sewage pit or thrown off balconies. He said police interviewed him at the time of his first murder but let him go due to a lack of evidence.

"You should not credit the police with catching me. I gave myself up," he told the court.

If convicted, Pichushkin could be Russia's most prolific serial killer.

Andrei Chikatilo, the "Rostov Ripper", was convicted in 1992 and executed in 1994 for raping, butchering and in some cases eating as many as 52 people.

Pichushkin's trial is expected to be lengthy, with testimony scheduled from at least 41 relatives of the alleged victims and another 98 witnesses.

© Reuters2007All rights reserved

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Pichushkin

In an extremely disturbed and messed up way, that's pretty cool, trying to get as many murders as there are spaces on a chessboard.

I'm not condoning it, but damn man.

One off as well, if the extra 11 get added.

Wow, the whole record thing makes it look less so , but it's still sick. :no:

For the sake of humility and objectivity, it's probably worth mentioning that:

1. He might not be the murderer of most of the victims (a lot of innocent men were apprehended during the Chikatilo case, and most of them confessed to all the murders)
2. It's not uncommon for serial killers to make up good stories.

Nonetheless, I still think he might be the right guy, even with these two things in mind. Maybe I'm just prejudiced, but c'mon, he really looks like your stereotypical "maniac".

He's recently been found guilty of 48 murders and three attempted murders. This leaves one wondering whether he's just bragging or if he cleaned up so well after himself they can't prove his guilt in the other murder cases.