Isabella Mueller (crime writer)
One of the worst serial killers in Russian criminal history is Alexander Pichushkin, better known as the Chessboard Killer. He wanted to kill 64 people, the same number of squares on a chessboard. Alexander came up with this insane idea together with his classmate Mikhail Odichuk. But when Odichuk refused to carry out the perfidious plan, Alexander lured him to Bitza Park, the largest park in the Russian capital Moscow, where he got him drunk and then strangled him. He disposed of the body in a drainage ditch. At the time, Alexander was only 18 years old. Later, he compared his first murder to first love, which you never forget. Alexander did not commit his second murder until 2001. The scene of all his murders was Bitza Park, where he is known to have killed 49 people between 2001 and 2006, mostly with a hammer. He then inserted either a branch or a vodka bottle into their head wounds. After each murder, he marked a square on a chessboard with a number. His victims were often homeless people with whom the alcoholic carpenter had previously befriended. The police caught Alexander thanks to his own carelessness. He had revealed his real name to his last victim, his co-worker Marina Moskalewa. The single mother, who had arranged to meet Alexander for a date in the park, had left her son a note with Alexander’s contact details for safety’s sake. When Marina still hadn’t returned home the next day, her son alerted the police. After several failed attempts, in which a transvestite was long considered a suspect, the police were finally able to arrest the chessboard killer. During questioning, Alexander made a full confession, admitting to having killed 61 people. Why remained a mystery. Alexander, who had completed a carpentry apprenticeship after graduating from school, wanted to do military service. However, he failed the medical examination and was sent to a psychiatric clinic. After returning from there, Alexander was like a different person, drinking himself into unconsciousness every day. On October 23, 2007, Alexander Pichushkin was found guilty of 48 counts of murder and 3 counts of attempted murder and sentenced on October 29, 2007, to life imprisonment, which he must serve in Russia’s harshest prison camp, the Polar Owl.
