Russian serial killer sentenced to life
2013-03-22 21:49
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 $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.
