Russian Serial Killer Sentenced to Life in Prison

By Nastacia Leshchinskaya - Trutv.com

March 22, 2013

A court in Russia’s Penza region has sentenced 24-year-old serial killer Alexander Bychkov to life in prison for nine murders. A year ago, Bychkov was caught shoplifting and confessed to police that there were six bodies buried in his yard. According to authorities, Bychkov said he ate the hearts and livers of two victims, but this was not proven.

Bychkov’s motivation was a desire to impress a girlfriend who dumped him. In his diary, Bychkov wrote ”she said I was a wimp, not a wolf … I will show her … Maybe she will stop complaining and understand that I am a lone wolf.” There are no police records to indicate whether the girlfriend changed her mind about Bychkov, who sometimes referred to himself as Rambo.

While trying to be more like a wolf, Bychkov went after easy prey. He mainly killed the homeless, whom he found disgusting. Murdering the homeless and street alcoholics is a common thread among Russian serial killers. Most famously, Andrei Chikatilo would lure homeless women and prostitutes to secluded areas by promising them booze or money. Alexander Spetsivtsev used his mother to invite homeless children and teenagers to their apartment for food, then kill and dismember them. Alexander Pichushkin, nicknamed the Chessboard Killer because he aimed to kill 62 people, one for every square on a chess board, offered vodka to the elderly homeless. He’d drink with them before killing them in various brutal ways.

In addition to the six bodies found in his yard, Bychkov was found guilty of three more murders and sentenced to life in prison.

Russian serial killer who called himself 'Rambo' gets life sentence for 9 murders

By Steve Gutterman, Reuters

March 22 , 2013

MOSCOW — A Russian serial killer who butchered his nine victims with a knife and hammer -- and said he ate the hearts of two of them — was sentenced to life in prison on Friday.

Prosecutors said Alexander Bychkov targeted alcoholics and the homeless out of disdain for their way of life, lured them into deserted areas, killed them, dismembered them and hid the body parts.

They said he described all nine killings in a journal with the words: "The bloody hunt of a predator born in the year of the dragon," state-run news agency RIA reported.

A court in the Penza region convicted the 24-year-old, who sometimes called himself "Rambo," of nine murders between September 2009 and January 2012.

Bychkov was arrested last year on suspicion of stealing 10,000 roubles ($320) and merchandise from a hardware store, but was charged with the murders after investigators found evidence.

RIA said he told authorities he had eaten the hearts of two victims, but he was not charged over that because there was no evidence to prove it.

Young cannibal kills and eats 11 people to impress his girlfriend

By Andrey Mikhailov - Pravda.ru

December 14, 2012

The police of the Volga region are about to complete the investigation of the criminal case, the materials of which can shock even those with nerves of steel. Twenty-three-year-old cannibal Alexander Bychkov is accused of killing at least nine people. The perpetrator was gutting corpses and eating the insides to impress his girlfriend.

The cannibal was killing homeless people. According to investigation, the killings and cannibalistic feasts were taking place presumably in the Penza region. The insane killer buried the remains of half-eaten corpses near the town of Belinsky, in the south-west of the region. To kill the homeless, the murderer used a common kitchen knife.  

Human remains were indeed uncovered at places of burial during investigation. "In two cases, after the murder he separated the heart from the body to eat the human heart later," law-enforcement officers said. It was also reported that the perpetrator was eating the livers of his victims too.

The perpetrator "formed a negative attitude towards the people, who abused alcohol and lead a beggary, roguish lifestyle," experts said.

The cannibal would conduct meticulous preparations for his crimes.  He carefully scrutinized criminal literature. Alexander Bychkov "developed a criminal plan, prepared a weapon and studied the examples of similar crimes committed by serial killers." He also mastered "various strategies and methods to conceal crime traces, including the bodies of the victims."

In January 2012, Alexander Bychkov broke a window of a hardware store, from which he stole money, kitchen knives and other items in the total sum of about 10,000 rubles ($300). The man was caught; police began to question him about the theft. However, the thief suddenly began to tell officers about the corpses, which he buried behind his house.

The cannibal's diary of crimes was found in his home. The man described all his crimes in detail. According to his records, Alexander Bychkov had killed 11 people, but the remains of two victims have not been found yet.

The cannibal was reading crime novels and watching crime TV shows. He was committing the crimes only during warm months.

Alexander Bychkov grew up in a dysfunctional family and was brought up by single mother. His childhood was difficult. The boy grew up and became a cowardly, but a cruel young man.

Psychologists say that Bychkov was committing atrocities to gain credibility in the eyes of his girlfriend, Svetlana. According to local newspapers, he said that the killings instilled self-confidence in him. He stopped being shy with his girlfriend, who would often criticize him for his softness and call him a doormat.

According to lawyers, if found sane, Bychkov may well expect a life sentence. Psychiatrist, PhD, Igor Yanushev, told Pravda.Ru:

"Such shocking crimes occur on a regular basis, even in much more socially advantaged countries than Russia. Foreign cannibals can be much more sophisticated in their perverted crimes than Russian ones. In Russia, believe me, cannibalism is much more prosaic, but its scale is more impressive.  Every year, police catch several cannibals, and it goes about proved cases only. Usually, cannibals are mentally ill individuals.

"In most cases, cannibals get into medical, rather than penitentiary institutions after verdict. A person, when recognized mentally ill, undergoes compulsory medical treatment until he or she is healed - it doesn't last for life. After treatment, their case is reviewed again, and that's when they can face a criminal punishment.

"I personally know several cases when mental patients were recognized healed and were released to freedom right from the courtroom - the statute of limitations expired. They can be released to freedom, despite the fact that they may commit their hideous crimes in 80 percent of cases."

Alexander Bychkov, Russia 'Cannibal' Serial Killer, Confesses To Police

By Alissa de Carbonne - HuffingtonPost.com

March 27, 2012

MOSCOW, March 27 (Reuters) - Russian police have arrested a man who admitted killing at least six people before eating their hearts and livers, media said.

Dubbed the "cannibal serial killer", Alexander Bychkov wrote in a diary of his crimes that he turned to murder after his girlfriend left him for being "a wimp".

Bychkov, 23, was arrested for shoplifting but then told police that he had buried bodies in his backyard in Belinsky, a town some 630 km (390 miles) southeast of Moscow, a spokeswoman for the investigative committee charged with the case told Reuters on Tuesday.

"Six bodies were found buried there," she said, adding that the death toll might be higher still. She said investigators were looking into media reports the killer cut out his victims' livers and hearts and ate them.

In passages from his diary leaked to Russian media, Bychkov said his girlfriend had kicked him out. "She said I was a wimp, not a wolf ... I will show her ... Maybe she will stop complaining and understand that I am a lone wolf."

Daily Izvestia cited a law enforcement source as saying Bychkov had eaten parts of his victims. "Evidence of cannibalism was seen in some incidents," it said.

In 2007, a Russian serial murderer convicted of killing 48 people was jailed for life. Alexander Pichushkin bragged he had no regrets and said killing was like falling in love.

Russian media called him the "chessboard murderer" because he said he planned to kill 64 people - one for each square on the board.

Russia Shocked By Double 'Cannibal' Arrest

Sky.com

March 27, 2012

Russian police have arrested two men suspected of cannibalism in two separate cases involving at least seven victims.

A suspected serial killer from the town of Penza, some 348 miles (560km) southeast of Moscow, is believed to have killed at least six people.

Alexander Bychkov wrote in a diary of his crimes that he turned to murder after his girlfriend left him for being "a wimp".

The 23-year-old suspect was arrested for shoplifting but then told police that he had buried bodies in his garden in Belinsky.

Investigators said: "A search of the man's home turned up a personal diary listing the crimes committed. The suspect identified the victims' photographs."

It is understood the man ate the livers of his victims, who all came from the town of Belinsky.

In passages from his diary reported by Russian media, Bychkov said his girlfriend had kicked him out.

"She said I was a wimp, not a wolf... I will show her... Maybe she will stop complaining and understand that I am a lone wolf."

Authorities also announced another arrest - this time of an unnamed 35-year-old man in Vladivostok who confessed to killing one of his friends and eating his body.

Investigators said the suspect "confessed that March 21 he killed the victim, 41, after drinking strong alcohol. Afterwards he and a friend ate the remains," and went on to confirm that human remains were found in the fridge.

There have been several cases of cannibalism in Russia in recent years, with some of those convicted homeless alcoholics.

In August 2010, police in the city of Murmansk arrested a 21-year-old man who confessed to killing and eating a man he met on a gay dating website.

In June 2010 a court jailed three homeless men after they killed and ate a man and sold parts of his body to a kebab stall in the Perm region in the Ural mountains.

In 2007, a Russian serial murderer convicted of killing and eating 48 people was jailed for life.

Cannibal Alexander Pichushkin bragged he had no regrets and said killing was like falling in love.

The Russian press called him the "chessboard murderer" because he said he planned to kill 64 people - one for each square on the board.

Russian serial-killer cannibal ate victims' livers

RIA Novosti / Sergey Venyavskiy

March 26, 2012

An alleged serial killer who practiced cannibalism has been arrested in Central Russia. The detainee has confessed to at least six murders, but the number of victims could be higher. Reports say the accused wanted to impress his girlfriend.

­Twenty-four-year-old Aleksandr Bychkov was initially arrested in Russia’s Penza Region on suspicion of involvement in a hardware store robbery. However, while being questioned Bychkov suddenly began telling police about corpses he had buried in a ravine near his home.

According to the police spokesperson, investigators found the remains of six people. They were “recovered from the ground and sent for examination.”

The examination revealed that Bychkov had chopped his victims into pieces. He then cut out their livers and ate them.

"The facts of cannibalism in some episodes did take place," a high-ranking source from law enforcement body in the region confirmed to Izvestia newspaper.

Reports emerge Bychkov had been trying to impress his girlfriend by killing and eating people – or it least to pluck up some courage to see her.

“She blanked me. She said I’m spineless, and I am a lone wolf. I’ll prove it. She doesn’t know and I cannot tell her anything,” Bychkov reportedly wrote in his diary, as online tabloid LifeNews quotes him.

According to the tabloid, Bychkov has already told police of a grave with a seventh body. Law enforcers suspect he may have been involved in more murders, since quite a number of people went missing in the region between 2009 and 2011.

­“The suspect identified the photographs of people shown to him. In addition, he pledged involvement in other similar cases,” said the official spokesperson of investigation committee, as cited by Izvestia.

Law enforcers have been concealing information about these crimes in an effort to avoid community panic. The local police chief even tried to calm citizens by publishing a newspaper article in which he claimed groundless rumors spread quickly in such a small city. He claimed the investigation had not confirmed that murders had occurred.

Meanwhile, in 2011 the court sentenced disabled man Aleksandr Guplov for these crimes. It is now evident he was most likely wrongfully convicted.