Alexander Pichushkin, the notorious Russian serial killer known as the “chessboard killer,” has confessed to 11 additional murders, potentially raising his total victim count to 63, according to a report by Reuters citing Russia’s penal service.
Pichushkin, 50, has been serving a life sentence at Polar Owl prison in the Arctic since 2007, convicted of killing 48 people and attempting to murder three more between 1992 and 2006. He now claims he is prepared to admit to 11 further killings, a revelation that, if confirmed, would make him Russia’s second most prolific serial murderer on record—surpassed only by ex-policeman Mikhail Popkov, convicted of 78 murders.
The latest confession has reignited interest in the chilling case that shocked Russia. Known for targeting the elderly, homeless and alcoholics around Moscow’s Bitsevsky Park, Pichushkin began his killing spree at the age of 18 and was arrested in 2006, by then working at a supermarket and spending free time playing chess.
Pichushkin was nicknamed the “chessboard killer” after telling detectives he aspired to kill 64 people—one for each square on a chessboard—and mark each with a coin. “He dreamed of surpassing Andrei Chikatilo,” Russian prosecutor Yury Syomin had said during the trial, referring to another infamous Soviet-era serial killer convicted of 52 murders.
If the new claims are verified, Pichushkin’s official count would rise to 59, just short of the record held by Popkov and well above Chikatilo.
