The Chessboard Killer, who's accused of bludgeoning 48 Russians to death with a hammer, should receive the 'severest punishment', according to Prosecutors. 33-year-old Alexander Pichushkin openly mocked his own lawyers on the last day of his Moscow trial.
Most of the victims, many of them homeless men, were killed over the course of five years in Bitsevsky Park, a sprawling wild green area on the southern edge of Moscow. 14 bodies have still not been found. Pichushkin, who was held in a glass cage in the courtroom, refused to make a final statement Monday. “A final statement?'' he said, speaking through a microphone. ”It sounds grim. I donate my final statement to all the deaf and mute.'' The Judge is expected to make his final address to the Jury on Tuesday. A final jury verdict is expected by Wednesday. It is alleged Pichushkin kept a constant record of his victims and he claims to have killed 63 people, but was aiming to kill 64 – the number of squares on a chess board.