By Katherine Ramsland

(Continued)

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Prosecutor Yury Syomin (or Semin, in a different source) is well versed in the case and keenly aware of Pichushkin's dark ambitions. "This is the first such case in Moscow," he declared. While the Maniac insisted there had been 63 (although at his arrest he claimed 61), the police had found no evidence to support a number that high.

Chess Board

"There are no bodies, no fragments, not even records of people gone missing," Syomin attested. However, among Pichushkin's effects investigators did find a drawing of a chessboard on which he had placed dates for 62 of the 64 squares. As with many serial killers whose ambition is to surpass others before them, it's difficult to know what to accept about Pichushkin's claims.

Pichushkin's attorney, Pavel Ivannikov, was aware that he faced a difficult case, and had not disclosed whether he had decided to have his client plead insanity. The decision to have a jury trial was made by the defendant, he said, but Pichushkin continues to admit his guilt. "My client understands that he is to blame for most of these murders."

In any event, there is a moratorium on the death penalty, so the maximum punishment, if convicted, is life in prison.

As to who was killing the young women in other areas of Moscow in recent years, that remains a mystery.

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By Katherine Ramsland

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