Biography of Andrei Chikatilo

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Biography of Andrei Chikatilo One of the most gruesome serial killers of all time was Andrei Chikatilo. He was born on October 16, 1936 in Yablochnoye, a Ukrainian farming village. One of his clearest memories of his youth was that of his mother telling him his older brother had been stolen and eaten by neighbors during a great famine. This thought remained with him always and he later disclosed he often imagined the torturous ending his brother must have had. At the start of World War II, his father was sent away, captured by Germans, and didn’t return until the war’s end. As a child, Chikatilo spent most of his time reading books about the Russian partisans fighting Germans. He particularly enjoyed books about Russians who dragged Germans into the woods and tortured them. He was a chronic bed wetter and his somewhat effeminate demeanor made him a constant target of teasing. He was extremely near sighted but refused to wear glasses for the fear of being teased further. As a teen, he grew tall and strong and most of the teasing stopped. He became the editor of the school newspaper and had a prestigious role as the political information officer. He was known as an ardent reader with a great memory. He became very involved in politics but had no social skills and no friends. He had an especially hard time trying to relate to girls. As he matured, he became more confident with women. However, his inability to achieve an erection foiled several early attempts at sex. He discovered that fear and violence excited him more than sex itself when he was eighteen years old. He was attempting to have sex with a woman who was uninterested. When she struggled, Chikatilo overpowered her but released her when he discover... ... middle of paper ... ... to 52 killings. He was brought into custody one final time when suspicious investigators checked his whereabouts on a day of a killing in the city of Ilovaisk. He had been there on business. The trial was slow and tedious. Chikatilo was placed in a cage, not to keep him from escaping, but to keep him safe from his victim’s family members. He was disruptive and maniacal for the entirety of the trial. He even had to be removed during the reading of the verdict because he continued to interrupt. He made absurd comments throughout the trial including that he was pregnant and the guards were hitting him in the stomach to make him lose the baby. On October 15, 1992, Andrei Chikatilo was found guilty of fifty-two counts of murder and was handed fifty-two separate death sentences. On February 14, 1994, he was executed by a single shot to the back of the neck.

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