Chessboard Killer: Debut Murder Was Like First Love

Russian charged in 49 deaths bares soul

By Jane Yager, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 10, 2007 6:19 AM CDT

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Chessboard Killer: Debut Murder Was Like First Love — Alexander Pichushkin, accused of killing dozens of people, looks on from behind a glass security cage during the first day of his trial in Moscow, Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007. After his arrest last year, Alexander Pichushkin claimed that he had killed more than 60 people in a Moscow park over several years... (Associated Press)

A Russian supermarket clerk on trial for 49 murders has told a Moscow court that his first killing—of a friend in 1992—was unforgettable, like "first love." Alexander Pichushkin, who gained notoriety in 2005 for serial killings in a Moscow park, also compared the need to murder to the need for food, the Telegraph reports.

Pichushkin, 33, tallied his victims by putting a coin on a chessboard for each murder, and claims he was just a few killings short of filling the 64-square board when police caught him. Only 49 bodies have been found, however. Pichushkin lured victims into the park by offering to share a bottle of vodka beside his dog's grave. (More Alexander Pichushkin stories.)

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