Cannibalism, Necrophilia, Mutilation: Gruesome Murders By Russia's Most Infamous Serial Killer

Guilty of committing 52 murders, Andrei Chikatilo was Russia's most infamous serial killer whose reign of terror haunted the people for over 12 years.

Ukrainian cannibalistic serial killer Andrei Chikatilo behind bars in Rostov on the Don, Russia. ( Image Source :Getty )

Known as the 'Rostov Ripper' and the 'Butcher of Rostov', Andrei Chikatilo was guilty of killing 52 people in the most gruesome ways. He described himself as 'nature's error, a mad beast'. A school teacher by profession, he was convicted for the murder and mutilation of 21 boys, 14 girls and 17 women. In some cases, he cut out the hearts and stomachs of his victims, and in other cases, he cut off their genitals and ate them, reports quoted a court as saying.

Chikatilo was described as 'a middle-aged, educated man with a history of sexual molestation and personal sexual problems' by Alexander Bukhanovsky, a psychiatrist who was brought to Moscow, against the wishes of many, to produce a profile of the Chikatilo by an investigator after all attempts to catch him failed. The Guardian reported that his analysis was correct to such an extent that it made the deadly killer weep as he read it while sitting in his cell and said, "Yes, it's me".

"A serial killer begins developing from childhood. A psychopath goes through stages before they literally taste blood, and each stage is brought on by different pressures," Alexander Bukhanovsky said, as quoted by The Guardian.

UNSUSPECTING VICTIMS AND MUTILATIONS

Chikatilo's victims were mostly young children, teenagers, and young women whom he lured into secluded areas before attacking them. He engaged in acts of cannibalism, necrophilia, and mutilation after killing his victims. He would often mutilate the bodies of his victims after killing them, and in some cases, he would remove their genitals or other body parts. 

 

Throughout the 12-year killing spree, Chikatilo was married, raising a family, and was employed as a Russian language teacher and office worker.

Dubbed the 'Forest Strip Killer' for the place where he buried his victims’ bodies, Chikatilo confessed to raping, killing and cannibalizing boys, girls and young women. Psychiatrists testified that he acted out of rage over feelings of sexual inadequacy, the Associated Press reported. Throughout the 12-year killing spree, Chikatilo was married, raising a family, and was employed as a Russian language teacher and office worker.

Over 30 of his victims were vagrants and prostitutes who were lured into the Russian forests with a promise of sex, food or alcohol while others were children or youngsters who would ask him for help on the street, the Independent reported.

During the six-month trial, Chikatilo had confessed to more murders than he was charged with, and led police to where he buried many of them: in a strip of forest land, for which he was dubbed the 'Forest Strip Killer'.

To make his crimes look like those carried out by Satanists or by other groups, he would often mutilate the sexual organs of some victims to mislead investigators. "In some cases, he chopped off the victims' tongues, inflicted more than 50 stab wounds on the corpses and ate the genitals," according to a report in The Independent.

PAST LIFE

Born in 1936, Andrei Chikatilo grew up in a poor family. Psychiatrist Alexander Bukhanovsky said Chikatilo had been fascinated by cannibalism because he believed that his brother was eaten by starving peasants during the 1930s famine in Ukraine. His father was also captured by the Germans and imprisoned. "The child was brought up as the son of an enemy of the people, as a traitor," the Independent quoted Bukhanovsky as saying.

Chikatilo had been married to his wife Faina for 27 years and had a son and a daughter. Even though he stayed away for nights and she saw blood on his clothes, she never suspected. She said, 'If I had known what my husband was doing . . . I would have done something to stop him. But how was I to know?"

HUNT TO NAB HIM

Over 50 investigators and 500 police personnel were left red-faced as they failed to capture the deadly killer. One suspect was executed on suspicion of the murder of a nine-year-old girl who later turned out to be the first victim of Chikatilo. Another suspect reported died by suicide while a third one tried to kill himself.

Chikatilo was arrested in 1984 at a Rostov market where he was trying to pick up women. He was freed after three months due to lack of evidence but was finally arrested in 1990 when police saw him making advances to a young man.

He was convicted in 1992 after a series of horrific murders between 1978 and 1990. After his conviction, he was sentenced to death and was executed by a single gunshot to the head in 1994.