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Moment 'Chessboard Killer' Confesses To Huge Spate Of Murders

Moment 'Chessboard Killer' Confesses To Huge Spate Of Murders

Police used his confession in a trial which eventually saw him convicted of killing 49 victims

Jake Massey

Jake Massey

This is the moment the 'Chessboard Killer' confessed to his crimes. Watch here:

Alexander Pichushkin killed dozens of people in Russia between 1992 and 2006, when he was finally arrested.

In his recorded confession, he said: "The Bitsa Maniac, as they call me, it is me.

"In fact I committed 61 murders. 60 of them in Bitsa Park and one in the city (Moscow).

"Most of the bodies I drowned in sewage wells.

"Why did I kill? I don't know. There was no sense in life for me without this."

east2west news

Police used the confession in a trial which eventually saw him convicted of 48 murders and three attempted murders. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Pichushkin, now 47, has always claimed he killed another 11 people, a figure accepted by most experts.

The 'Chessboard Killer' nickname used by Russian media was derived from the fact he told detectives that he had hoped to put a coin on every square of a 64-square chessboard for each of his victims.

He was also known as the 'Bitsa Park Maniac', as the park in Moscow is where he killed many of his victims.

Speaking from the high security jail in which he will spend the rest of his life, Pichushkin said each murder brought him 'colossal pleasure' and was 'comparable to an orgasm'.

east2west news

Tragically, his killing spree could have been cut short if it wasn't for police incompetence.

Maria Viricheva was 18 in February 2002 when Pichushkin saw her in tears after a row with her boyfriend and pretended to comfort her.

He persuaded her to go with him into the park, and as they walked, he told her his name and address, and she realised she lived close to him.

But Pichushkin only had one aim - to kill her.

She said: "I saw an open sewage well. (Pichushkin) grabbed my hair and started banging my head against the iron well cover.

"When I realised blood covered my face, and I felt terrible pain... I knew he would kill me."

She fell 25ft into the sewage well, but miraculously, many hours later, she managed to lift a manhole cover and scream for help.

She was taken to hospital where she gave a policeman her attacker's name and address. But the cop was not interested in probing the attack on her.

He promised to tell her boyfriend she was safe, and get him to bring some clothes for her, but only if she pretended she had fallen into the well.

The policeman was later jailed for incompetence.

Senior investigator Andrey Suprunenko said: "His only motive was: 'I do not want to work', that's all.

"He did not need to search for anyone or prove anything.

"If only he had worked properly then [Pichushkin] would have been detained... We would then not have seen more than half the corpses."

Featured Image Credit: east2west news

Topics: World News, crime, Russia