Once again, we’re back to Russia. “The Chessboard Killer” Alexander Pichushkin is another notorious Russian serial killer, believed to have killed between 49 and 60 people, in southwest Moscow’s Bitsa Park, where a number of the victims’ bodies were found. During his trial, as with Andrei Chikatilo, Pichushkin was housed in a glass cage for his protection. This isn’t the only link between the two. Russian media have speculated that competition with Chikatilo motivated the Chessboard Killer to kill.
His real aim was to kill a person for every tile on a chessboard, which was found in his home and dated on all but 2 tiles, which supposedly were the dates for each murder.
Pichushkin’s method of operation was the same every time, with some slight differences. Most of his victims were senior men, with only three of them being women. Pichushkin usually invited them to drink vodka, and when they were thoroughly intoxicated, he hit them in the back of the head with a hammer or similar object. The most unusual part of his killings was shoving the empty vodka bottle through the wound afterward. It is believed that the ramming of the bottle they had been drinking from into his victims’ head was to assure their death.
