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Serial Killer News Briefs from Around the World:

By David Lohr

Alexander Pichushkin
Alexander Pichushkin

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November 2, 2007

Monday, October 29, 2007

MOSCOW, Russia Convicted serial killer Alexander Pichushkin, 33, dubbed by the media as the "Bitsevsky maniac," was sentenced to life in prison today. When asked by a judge in Moscow City Court if he understood his sentence, Pichushkin replied, "I'm not deaf. I understood." Last week a jury of his peers found Pichushkin guilty of killing 48 people in southern Moscow from 2001 until his arrest in 2006. During his interrogation, Pichushkin told investigators that he had planned to kill 64 people, one for each square on a chessboard. Last week Pichushkin told the court the killings made him feel like God. "I took the most valuable thing, human life," he said. "I didn't take anything else of value from them. Money, jewelry, I didn't need it. I felt like God." Prosecutors were unable to seek the death penalty against Pichushkin because Russia imposed a moratorium on executions in 1996. Pichushkin's conviction makes him the most prolific serial killer in Russian history since Andrei Chikatilo, who was convicted in 1992 and later executed for the murder of 52 women and children between 1978 and 1990.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Matthew Macon
Matthew Macon

LANSING, MI The family of suspected serial killer Matthew "Chilly" Emmanuel Macon, 27, held a rally against "injustice" at the base of the state Capitol steps in support of his innocence. During the protest, Macon's cousin, Clifton Jackson, addressed the crowd, saying, "Matthew is innocent of the crimes and charges he has been accused of. Both sides should be reported... It's time for us to stand up and stop standing by." In September, investigators arrested Macon and charged him in the death of 64-year-old Sandra Eichorn. At that time, police said that Macon, a man who has been in and out of prison since 2001, was a suspect in at least seven unsolved murders that occurred this summer in central Michigan. Last week, police filed additional murder charges against Macon in the death of 41-year-old Karen Yates. Authorities say Macon could also face charges in the deaths of Ruth Hallman, 76; Deborah Cooke, 36; Debra Renfors, 46; Barbara Jean Tuttle, 45; and Carolyn Kronenberg, 60. Macon is being held without bond in Ingham County Jail.

Maria Bruno
Maria Bruno

EL MONTE, CA — On the night of Dec. 1, 2005, a Jack the Ripper-style killer attacked Maria Bruno, 32, inside her apartment. When the killer was finished the vivacious former model looked like she'd been drained of half her blood. Like the murder of final Ripper victim, Mary Kelly, 107 years before, the killer had the benefit of an enclosed place where he could spend a good amount of time systematically mutilating her body. And like his Victorian counterpart, this modern-day Jack the Ripper has yet to be caught and is likely a serial killer. Read the rest of the fascinating case here.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

PRETORIA, South Africa Pretoria High Court Judge John Murphy has ruled that statements given to police by suspected Olievenhoutbosch serial killer Richard Jabulani Nyauza, can be presented in court as evidence against him. Police allege Nyauza told them his victims deserved to die because a woman had given him a terminal illness. "He said he had sex with the women and thereafter became angry because he was of the opinion that a woman had given him AIDS and that they did not deserve to live," the police report reads. Nyauza claims he was coerced into making the statements and that police threatened to have him killed. Last week Nyauza pled "not guilty" to 16 counts of murder and four counts of rape. According to court documents, the victims were all women, and the murders took place between January 2002 and August 2006. Five of the victims' bodies were discovered in 2002, and 11 more were discovered in 2006. Prosecutors claim to have DNA evidence linking Nyauza to the crimes.

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Michel Fourniret
Michel Fourniret

REIMS, Northern France — Opening statements in the trial of self-confessed serial killer Michel Fourniret, 63, a.k.a. the "Ogre of the Ardennes," have been scheduled to begin on March 27, 2008, in Charleville-Mezieres in the Ardennes region of France. In 2004, Fourniret allegedly confessed to kidnapping, raping, and murdering seven girls in the 1980s and the 1990s. Last month Fourniret sent a letter to the courts asking that he be charged in three additional murders, saying, "Their families deserve an explanation." Fourniret also requested that he speak with the victims' parents face to face. "The risk of my premature death or losing my mental faculties means I cannot leave these three affairs by the wayside. They should be added," he wrote. The appeals court of Reims is still considering his request.

Friday, November 02, 2007

SOWETAN, South Africa Investigators are trying to positively identify skeletal remains found in sugarcane plantations on the south coast. In discussing the case with Int.iol.co.za, an unidentified police source said investigators have asked family members of missing persons to provide them with photos of their lost loved ones. "These are being sent to Pretoria for facial reconstruction to be done," the source said. "This will enable the forensic team to positively identify the bodies and they can be released to the families. We are hoping that because this is a high-profile case, the results will be fast-tracked." Last month investigators announced only 1 of the 10 victims had been positively identified. Postmortem exams suggest the first five victims were strangled and possibly raped. Three suspects, none of whom have been identified, were initially arrested in connection with the murders, but charges against one of those individuals have since been withdrawn. Police are now trying to determine whether a link exists between these murders and the murders of two other women whose bodies were found at the Majola Tea Plantation in April.

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Contact David Lohr at 
crimewriter74@adelphia.net

 








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