The Chessboard Killer

A Russian man who claims to have murdered 62 people - as he was aiming to kill for every square on a chess board - has gone on trial. Alexander Pichushkin, 33, nicknamed the 'chessboard killer', said he was aiming to kill 64 to complete the board.

When he was arrested, police found his chessboard with numbers attached to the squares and stoppers from bottles of vodka he allegedly offered his victims to lure them to their deaths. He said he was two short of his target but will only stand trial for 49 killings because cops do not have enough evidence to prosecute for more.

Pichushkin's alleged murder spree happened in the Bittsa Park in Moscow, over several years. Most of the victims were men, many of them homeless. They were said to have been lured by a promise of free vodka and then battered to death in the head with a hammer or thrown into a sewage pit after they were too drunk to resist.

The killings became more frequent in 2005 and panic spread so the police swept the 6.6 square-mile park in a search for suspects. At first police arrested another man on suspicion of the murders but Pichushkin claims he proved they had captured the wrong man by killing two more victims within a week and was affronted someone else was "taking credit for his work".

Pichushkin was finally caught when the police found his name and phone number on a piece of paper in the apartment of his last victim, a woman who worked with Pichushkin in a food store. She had apparently become suspicious of Pichushkin and had left behind a note so police would be able to track him down.

A victim who survived an attack also identified him as the culprit.

The jury in the case has been sworn in today and the trial is expected to last some time. Part of the jury's job will be to decide if Pichushkin is of sound mind. If Pichushkin is convicted, he will face life in prison rather than execution because Russia has suspended its use of the death penalty.