'Chessboard Killer' goes on trial in Russia
CNN reported that a man accused of killing over 60 people and keeping track of his kills on a chessboard went on trial Tuesday in Moscow.
Alexander Pichushkin, 33, claims to have killed 62 people over the last 15 years. After each kill he made a mark on a chessboard. He planned on filling all 64 squares on the board.
Pichushkin has been charged for 49 murders, most of which have been commited over 5 years.
His first victim, a classmate of Pichushkin, was killed in 1992 when Pichushkin was 18-years-old.
"This first murder, it's like first love, it's unforgettable," he was quoted by RIA-Novosti as saying.
Pichushkin has requested that he be charged for all of his murders. He said anything else would be unfair, RIA-Novosti and Interfax reported.
The Gaurdian reported that Pichushkin allegedly killed 40 of his victims by luring them into a park and then throwing them into a sewage pit, chief investigator Andrei Suprunenko said. He killed others by hitting them in the head with a hammer.
Pichushkin was caught in June 2006 when police found his name and number on a piece of paper that one of his victim's left behind for their child.
Police found his chessboard with 62 marks on it, investigators said. Pichushkin confessed to killing all 62 people.