http://www.skcentral.com/articles.php?article_id=692
This article states that Alexander Pichushkin, otherwise known as the Chessboard Killer, was convicted on 48 counts of murder and 3 counts of attempted murder in Moscow, Russia in October of 2007. This article focuses more on Alexander Pichushkin himself rather then the court case. The article makes the presumption that Alexander Pichushkin may have been in competition with another one of Russia's most famous serial killers, Andrei Chikatilo, who was convicted of 52 murders in 1992. It was even around the time of Chikatilo's trial in 1992 that Pichushkin committed his first murder. Pichushkin was even quoted in saying that "this first murder, it's like love, it's unforgettable".
The article stated that after this first killing in 1992 Pichushkin did not kill again until the early part of 2000. Pichushkin's killings began to get more and more gruesome until the authorities finally caught up with him in June of 2006. Pichushkin had killed a woman he worked with at a supermarket. It was because she had left a note for her son to tell him that she was taking a walk with Pichushkin that the authorities were able to catch him. While he was aware of the risks involved in killing his co-worker, he still murdered her. Pichushkins states that it is not only a desire to kill, but also a need to kill. For Pichushkin a life without killing is comparable to starvation from food for a normal person.
The article made no mention to which authorities caught up to Pichushkin, only that he was caught. Also that the police found a chessboard with 61or 62 of its 64 squares filled with dates. Pichushkin had been trying to fill a chess board with murders, hence his media given name. Although Pichushkin was only convicted on 48 counts of murder and 3 counts of attempted murder, as 3 victims survived, Pichushkin claims to have killed 11 more people in his 2007 trial.
The jury only deliberated for 3 hours before sentencing Pichushkin to life imprisonment. But in the wake of these hideous acts committed by Pichushkin there was a renewed interest in re-instituting the death penalty in Russia.
I had never heard of the Chessboard Killer until now. It is completely sick to hear that he needed to kill and was actually comparing it starvation. I can also see why there was an interest in re-instituting the death penalty. I wonder if he actually killed 11 other people or is just saying that in order to get some sort of deal?
ReplyDeleteInteresting to find a serial killer outside the country. I always wondered what laws of other countries do to handle serial killers. Also you stated as the murders kept happening the more gruesome it became. I believe this is true because it gets easier and easier for theses killers to do things once they have had practice unfortunatley.
ReplyDeleteI actually remember the Andrei Chikatilo case when he was caught. He did some not so nice things with children. This case brings up an interesting point though that we will discuss, the fact that sensaionalizing serial killers can lead to copycats..
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of this, probably because it was out of the country and doesn't seem to involve an American. It's interesting that this case would lead to renewed talk about the death penalty in Russia. It reminds me of we talked about last class: finding the worst example of a crime and then using that example to construct public outcry that leads to some end goal, like the death penalty or more government involvement.
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