Andrei Chikatilothe Rostov Ripper
By Jennifer Carr
What makes a Serial Killer?
O Unusual motivation for acts that differ from the
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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”
O They may know it’s wrong, but they keep doing it
anyway
Family
O 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
O Mother a controlling, demining shrew (Anna)
O 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)
O Younger sister Tatyana
Early life
O Born on October 16, 1936 in Ukraine
O Was born with a misshapen head due to
water buildup in his brain
O Due to an illness he contracted in childhood,
Andrei suffered from chronic bedwetting, for
which his mother would berate and abuse
him for
O The disease also made him impotent, though
he was able to sire 2 children
Personality
O Extremely introverted
O Instead of gaining social connections with
other people, he would descend into violent
and sexual fantasies
O Was teased extensively about his impotency
O Was a very smart, if shy person
Schooling
O Applied to Moscow State University in 1953
O Passed the entrance exam but his school history
was not good enough to gain him admission
O Performed his compulsory military service from
1957-1960
O 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
O Married a woman introduced to him by his
younger sister
O He was unable to perform normal intercourse
O Would ejaculate outside and push the sperm
in manually
O By this method he sired two children
O Ludmila, in 1965
O Yuri, in 1969
O His wife would also berate him on his
impotency, just like his mother
First signs of the Killer to be
O Andrei first ejaculated was at 17
O Happened while chasing down one of his
sister’s 11 year old friends during a game
O After he tackled her and she was fighting
underneath him, the violence gave him a
weak ejaculation, but with no erection
O From then on, he associated violence with
sexual pleasure
O Derived pleasure form watching the
bombing on his town from the war and the
devastation it caused
First Kill
O Yelena Zakonova- 22 December, 1978
O 9 years old
O Had secretly rented out a shack near Rostov-on-
Don
O Attempted to rape her, but when he could not get
an erection, he proceeded to choke and stab her
O It was during the stabbing that he managed to
ejaculate, but again, with no arousal or erection
O Dumped her body into a nearby river
O Would go on to kill between 53-70 victims
Notable Murders, in order
O Yelena Zakonova-9 (F) December 22, 1978
O First Murder
O Oleg Pozhidayev-9 (M) August 13, 1982
O First ever male victim
O Body was never recovered
O Laura Sarkisyan-15 (F)
O While no direct date of death was clearly
determined, Russian authorities could tell she’d
been killed sometime after June 18, 1983
O Her body was never found
Notable Murders (cont.)
O Unknown Female victim (18-25 years old)
Summer 1983
O Was most likely a prostitute who thought
Chikatilo was a potential client
O Natalya Shalapinina-19 (F) January 19,
1984
O Friend of the 9th victim, Olga Kuprina
O Marta Ryabenko-45 (F) February 21, 1984
O Chikatilo’s oldest victim
Notable Murders (cont.)
O Tatyana Petrosyan-32 (F) and Svetlana
Petrosyan-11 (F); Mother and daughter
O Killed May 25, 1984
O First time two murders were committed at the
same time or of two relatives
O Unknown woman (20-25 years old)
O Was killed sometime between 8th-11th of August,
1984
O Irina Gulyayeva-18 (F) August 27, 1985
O Body was found day after Chikatilo murdered her
O Fastest any of the victims had ever been found
Notable Murders (cont.)
O Yuri Tereshonok-16 (M) September 15, 1987
O Was one of the bodies Chikatilo himself led the
authorities to after his arrest
O Unknown woman (18-25 years old)
O Was killed sometime between 1st-4th of April,
1988
O Yevgeniy Muratov-15 (M) July 14, 1988
O First victim to be killed near Rostov since 1985
O Tatyana Ryzhova-16 (F) March 8, 1989
O Killed in Chikatilo’s daughter’s apartment
Notable Murders (cont.)
O Aleksandr Dyakonov-8 (M) May 11, 1989
O Killed one day after his 8th birthday
O Aleksey Moiseyev-10 (M) June 10, 1989
O Second victim that Chikatilo lead authorities to after
his arrest
O Aleksey Khobotov-10 (M) August 28, 1989
O Third victim that Chikatilo lead authorities to after
his arrest
O Viktor Tishchenko-16 (M) October 30, 1990
O Was the victim who wounded Chikatilo, helping to
arrest and convict him
O Svetlana Korostik-22 (F) November 6th, 1990
O Chikatilo’s last victim
Common Factors
O Most Victims female
O All but a few were under 25 years old
O Common injuries:
O Raped/Stabbed
O Eyes cut/gouged out
O He was extremely superstitious and believed that
the victim’s eyes would retain his image after death
O Genitals/breast/tongues of victims removed
O Semen usually left at scene on or near victims
O This was before DNA testing, so guilty individuals
could not be determined easily
Media Attention
O While most serial killers thrive on media attention,
Chikatilo did not
O Every time the police released information on the
crimes, he would go into a hibernation period until:
O He thought it was safe
O He couldn’t control his violent sexual urges any
longer
O A movie was made about Chikatilo called Citizen X
O This was a play off the codename the police called
him (Suspect X)
Arrest
O Chikatilo almost caught 1 time before
O After he was finally caught as the real
perpetrator
O 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
O Finally revealed everything to the
psychiatrist assisting the police in profiling
the killer, Alexandr Bukhanovsky
Trial and death
O Chikatilo determined to be sane enough to stand
trial
O He was placed inside a cage to prevent the
families of the victims from killing him
O 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
O He was found guilty of 53 if the 56 counts of
murder
O The only reason 3 didn’t count is because they
couldn’t find the bodies
O Was killed by a single bullet behind the right ear
in a soundproof room on Valentine’s Day, 1994
Psychopath
O Was Andrei Chikatilo a psychopath?
O Had little remorse over the murders
O Did not see these acts as particularly evil
O Did not target one specific group or ethnic
race for the murders
O Technically… yes
O Was he evil?
O 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
O Needed the feel of sexual power
O Whenever he would, he would go after street
girls and female runaways
O Boys were a last resort if he could not lure away
any women
O Preferred children, since they were free of
prejudice and would not “judge” him for what he
did to them
O Would occasionally remove and keep the
genitals, tongues or breasts of his victims as
reminders