Alexander Jurjewitsch Pitchushkin

Alexander Pichushkin ( Russian Александр Юрьевич Пичушкин *  9. April 1974 in Mytishchi ), called The chessboard killer ( Russian Убийца с шахматной доской ) or The madman from Bitsa Park ( Russian Битцевский маньяк ), is a Russian serial killer . At the time of the prosecution (2007), the 33-year-old supermarket worker drew attention to himself through a series of murders in Moscow's Bitza Park .

Murders

Pitchushkin committed the first murder when he was 18 in 1992 of his classmate Mikhail Odiitschuk, with whom he originally developed the plan for the chessboard murders . However, when he said that he was not ready to implement their plan, Pitchushkin made the decision to murder his only confidante. He invited Mikhail to have a drink in Bizevsky Park and asked him to take a rope with him. After getting him drunk, he strangled him with the same and threw him into a drainage channel, into which he later disposed of other of his numerous victims. About this first act Pitchushkin later said: "The first murder is like being in love for the first time - unforgettable."

The actual series of murders, which was attributed to him as the chessboard killer, did not begin until nine years later, in 2001. After his arrest, Pitchushkin stated that he wanted to kill 64 people - the number of squares on a chessboard . After every murder he always put a number on the next square on his chessboard. When asked what he would have done if he had reached the number 64, Pitchushkin replied that he would have bought a new board.

He began by luring various people, including some close friends, to more remote parts of the park in the dark. He gave excuses for this, such as wanting to drink to his deceased, beloved dog, but reluctant to do it alone. His favored target group were elderly and disabled people who did not pose any danger. He also turned his attention to people like the homeless, singles, the socially disadvantaged or alcoholics, as he assumed that they would probably not be missing and wanted. He made people drunk until they were completely defenseless and mostly killed them with a hammer. He later also used a self-made firearm - with lead bullets without a casing, as they are also used in gas and signal pistols - to shoot his victims in the head. He also strangled some of his victims or left them with their head wounds to drown in the sewers. In 2002 a woman was able to escape through another hatch in the sewer system in this way, and later a 13-year-old and an older man too. When he happened to meet one of the escaped victims on the street in 2003, he took a two-year break out of fear.

In 2005 he continued his series of acts, this time with even greater brutality. To make sure his victims were really dead, he stuck a bottle of vodka or a stick into the gaping wound in their heads instead of throwing them down the sewer.

Arrest and conviction

In 2006, a transvestite who was carrying a hammer with him in the forest for his own defense was mistakenly arrested there and was therefore suspected of being the chessboard killer for a while. When the newspapers reported the arrest, Pitchushkin upset because he wanted to prove that the real murderer was still at large. Therefore, he murdered five other people, four of whom came from his personal environment. His last victim was his former work colleague Marina Moskaleva. She had left her son a message stating that she wanted to meet Pitchushkin for a walk. His cell phone number, which she had also noted on the slip, ultimately led to the perpetrator. On October 9, 2007, he made a full confession in which he stated that he had a total of 61 people on his conscience. He was of the opinion "it would be unfair to forget the other eleven". These murders could never be proven, but a chessboard with 61 marked fields was found in his apartment.

Pitchushkin was found guilty on October 23, 2007 of 48 murders and three other attempted murders. On October 29, 2007, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.

motive

Pitchushkin himself stated, among other things, that his goal would have been to surpass the number of victims of the serial killer Andrei Romanovich Chikatilo and to become the most famous and feared serial killer in Russia. According to his defense lawyer Pavel Ikannikow, he drove the number of his victims up from 48 to 62 out of a desire for recognition. "He wanted to be famous," he said. He also refused to give evidence at his trial because his request to be transferred from Butyrka Prison to Sailor Rest Prison was not followed up. In his opinion, the more important inmates were imprisoned there, including Mikhail Borissowitsch Khodorkovsky . He generally expressed pride in the actions rather than showing any sign of remorse.

He also showed the lust for murder as a motive. He said that for him, as for others, life without murders would be life without food. Without it, he would starve to death. It would have been a time when he would have determined the fate of 60 people. He described it this way: in the murders he was the only judge and executioner. He would be like God. He felt like a kind of father to his victims because he had "opened the door to another world" for them. This feeling of the almost omnipotent superiority over the victims can be found in many serial killers and often represents a partial motive.

swell

1. ↑ Trial in Moscow: Court finds chessboard killer guilty. In: Spiegel Online . October 24, 2007, accessed February 2, 2020 . 
2. ↑ Serial killer on trial: Moscow's grandmaster of murder. In: The Independent . September 14, 2007, accessed March 10, 2013 . 
3. ↑ Verdict: Checkerboard Killer must be imprisoned for life In: Spiegel Online. October 29, 2007, accessed February 2, 2020 . 
4. ↑ Bizewski serial killer: Experiments with the victims. In: Russia News . September 19, 2007, accessed March 10, 2013 . 
5. ↑ 48 Murders: Lifelong for Chessboard Killers in Russia. In: oe24.at . October 24, 2007, accessed March 10, 2013 . 

Web links

• RIA Novosti: Investigators believe 62 murdered by "chessboard killer" (English)