Andrei Chikatilo- the Rostov Ripper By Jennifer Carr

What makes a Serial Killer? Unusual motivation for acts that differ from the rest of society Abusive childhood Sexual/physical inadequacies Personality that is either very introverted or very demanding Often very well educated with a high IQ Many times do not think what they’re doing is “evil” They may know it’s wrong, but they keep doing it anyway

Family Father drafted to serve against the Germans in WWII (Roman), then was branded a traitor by their neighbors after being released by the American forces Mother a controlling, demining shrew (Anna) Older brother Stepan who was apparently kidnapped and cannibalized by starving neighbors when he was 10 during one of the many famines when Stalin started the crop seizures and redistributions (no record of Stepan or his death actual exists) Younger sister Tatyana

Early life Born on October 16, 1936 in Ukraine Was born with a misshapen head due to water buildup in his brain Due to an illness he contracted in childhood, Andrei suffered from chronic bedwetting, for which his mother would berate and abuse him for The disease also made him impotent, though he was able to sire 2 children

Personality Extremely introverted Instead of gaining social connections with other people, he would descend into violent and sexual fantasies Was teased extensively about his impotency Was a very smart, if shy person

Schooling Applied to Moscow State University in 1953 Passed the entrance exam but his school history was not good enough to gain him admission Performed his compulsory military service from 1957-1960 Became a teacher of Russian Literature with a degree and taught at several schools until he was accused of molesting several students of both genders

Marriage and children Married a woman introduced to him by his younger sister He was unable to perform normal intercourse Would ejaculate outside and push the sperm in manually By this method he sired two children Ludmila, in 1965 Yuri, in 1969 His wife would also berate him on his impotency, just like his mother

First signs of the Killer to be Andrei first ejaculated was at 17 Happened while chasing down one of his sister’s 11 year old friends during a game After he tackled her and she was fighting underneath him, the violence gave him a weak ejaculation, but with no erection From then on, he associated violence with sexual pleasure Derived pleasure form watching the bombing on his town from the war and the devastation it caused

First Kill Yelena Zakonova- 22 December, 1978 9 years old Had secretly rented out a shack near Rostov-on-Don Attempted to rape her, but when he could not get an erection, he proceeded to choke and stab her It was during the stabbing that he managed to ejaculate, but again, with no arousal or erection Dumped her body into a nearby river Would go on to kill between 53-70 victims

Notable Murders, in order Yelena Zakonova-9 (F) December 22, 1978 First Murder Oleg Pozhidayev-9 (M) August 13, 1982 First ever male victim Body was never recovered Laura Sarkisyan-15 (F) While no direct date of death was clearly determined, Russian authorities could tell she’d been killed sometime after June 18, 1983 Her body was never found

Notable Murders (cont.) Unknown Female victim (18-25 years old) Summer 1983 Was most likely a prostitute who thought Chikatilo was a potential client Natalya Shalapinina-19 (F) January 19, 1984 Friend of the 9th victim, Olga Kuprina Marta Ryabenko-45 (F) February 21, 1984 Chikatilo’s oldest victim

Notable Murders (cont.) Tatyana Petrosyan-32 (F) and Svetlana Petrosyan-11 (F); Mother and daughter Killed May 25, 1984 First time two murders were committed at the same time or of two relatives Unknown woman (20-25 years old) Was killed sometime between 8th-11th of August, 1984 Irina Gulyayeva-18 (F) August 27, 1985 Body was found day after Chikatilo murdered her Fastest any of the victims had ever been found

Notable Murders (cont.) Yuri Tereshonok-16 (M) September 15, 1987 Was one of the bodies Chikatilo himself led the authorities to after his arrest Unknown woman (18-25 years old) Was killed sometime between 1st-4th of April, 1988 Yevgeniy Muratov-15 (M) July 14, 1988 First victim to be killed near Rostov since 1985 Tatyana Ryzhova-16 (F) March 8, 1989 Killed in Chikatilo’s daughter’s apartment

Notable Murders (cont.) Aleksandr Dyakonov-8 (M) May 11, 1989 Killed one day after his 8th birthday Aleksey Moiseyev-10 (M) June 10, 1989 Second victim that Chikatilo lead authorities to after his arrest Aleksey Khobotov-10 (M) August 28, 1989 Third victim that Chikatilo lead authorities to after his arrest Viktor Tishchenko-16 (M) October 30, 1990 Was the victim who wounded Chikatilo, helping to arrest and convict him Svetlana Korostik-22 (F) November 6th, 1990 Chikatilo’s last victim

Common Factors Most Victims female All but a few were under 25 years old Common injuries: Raped/Stabbed Eyes cut/gouged out He was extremely superstitious and believed that the victim’s eyes would retain his image after death Genitals/breast/tongues of victims removed Semen usually left at scene on or near victims This was before DNA testing, so guilty individuals could not be determined easily

Media Attention While most serial killers thrive on media attention, Chikatilo did not Every time the police released information on the crimes, he would go into a hibernation period until: He thought it was safe He couldn’t control his violent sexual urges any longer A movie was made about Chikatilo called Citizen X This was a play off the codename the police called him (Suspect X)

Arrest Chikatilo almost caught 1 time before After he was finally caught as the real perpetrator It took so long originally because torture was still an acceptable means of confession in the USSR at the time, so many false confessions were given Finally revealed everything to the psychiatrist assisting the police in profiling the killer, Alexandr Bukhanovsky

Trial and death Chikatilo determined to be sane enough to stand trial He was placed inside a cage to prevent the families of the victims from killing him Several time over the proceedings, he would drop his trouser and reveal his genitals whenever someone in the crowd would accuse him of being homosexual He was found guilty of 53 if the 56 counts of murder The only reason 3 didn’t count is because they couldn’t find the bodies Was killed by a single bullet behind the right ear in a soundproof room on Valentine’s Day, 1994

Psychopath Was Andrei Chikatilo a psychopath? Technically… yes Had little remorse over the murders Did not see these acts as particularly evil Did not target one specific group or ethnic race for the murders Technically… yes Was he evil? Because he felt no remorse for what he had done, and the murders were not committed for some higher goal (such as religion or ethnic cleansing), then yes I consider him evil

Motives Needed the feel of sexual power Whenever he would, he would go after street girls and female runaways Boys were a last resort if he could not lure away any women Preferred children, since they were free of prejudice and would not “judge” him for what he did to them Would occasionally remove and keep the genitals, tongues or breasts of his victims as reminders