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Russia's ‘chessboard killer' Alexander Pichushkin admits to 11 more murders, claims he took 63 lives
If convicted of the additional murders, the “chessboard killer” would become Russia's second most prolific serial killer on record
Russian serial killer Alexander Pichushkin, also known as the “chessboard killer," has stated that he is willing to admit to 11 additional murders, apart from the 48 confirmed killings that earned him a life sentence in 2007, reported Reuters, citing Russia's penal service.
The 50-year-old has spent the last 18 years in the Polar Owl prison in the remote Arctic northern region of Russia, serving his sentence for a killing spree that lasted from 1992 to 2006.
Pichushkin, reportedly, told investigators that he was ready to admit to 11 more murders, after authorities suspected that he had killed more people than the 48 confirmed murders that led to his sentencing.
Pichushkin, over 14 years, murdered elderly people, alcoholics and homeless people around Bitsevsky Park, a large green area in southern Moscow.
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In 1992, when he killed his first victim, he was merely 18 years old, reported The Guardian. By the time he was arrested, he was 33 years old and worked in a supermarket, often spending time at the Bitsevsky Park or home playing chess.
Russian media nicknamed him “the chessboard killer” after he confessed to detectives that he had hoped to put a coin on every square of a 64-square chessboard for each of his victims.
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The serial killer claimed that he killed 63 people, but prosecutors only confirmed 48 of them and charged him with 3 attempted murders as well.
Pichushkin's confession, if confirmed to be true, would bring his count to 59 murders and would make him Russia's second most prolific serial killer on record.
Currently, the most dangerous serial killer recorded in Russia is Mikhail Popkov, a former policeman who was convicted of 78 murders. Right behind Popkov is Andrei Chikatilo, who was convicted in 1992 of killing and mutilating 52 people.
Russian prosecutor Yury Syomin said, as quoted by the Guardian, during Pichushkin's trial, that the serial killer dreamed of surpassing Andrei Chikatilo.
