Andrei Chikatilo was a true incarnation of evil. He was a serial murderer and rapist who killed about 56 people and raped 254 people in 12 years through strangulation and stabbing by knife. The most gruesome characteristics of his crimes include necrophilia, cannibalism, mutilation, and evisceration. Evisceration is when the internal organs of the abdominal cavity are removed. He began his murder spree in 1978 and was caught in 1990. Chikatilo targeted children and young adults for the most part and feasted on their sexual organs. Chikatilo’s first victim was Lena Zakotnova. This crime was committed on 22nd December 1978. Chikatilo lured Zakotnova into an abandoned shed and attempted to rape her. To try to get her under control, Chikatilo stabbed …show more content…
A common trend that was seen in his earlier crimes was the removal and/or damage of the eyes. In his testimony, Chikatilo confessed that he believed his victims carried an imprint of his face in their eyes. At the time that the Red Ripper was active, serial killers were scarce. The idea of a serial killer was a fairly new concept. The concept was usually suppressed by the Soviet Union to maintain public order (I do not know how keeping serial killers free is maintaining public order but okay Stalin). However, Chikatilo’s modus operandi, especially the eye mutilation, was too gruesome to overlook. As bodies piled higher, public fear and concern grew, regardless of lack of media coverage. When police investigations started in 1983, it was found that the offender had blood type AB. However, the police was more focused on known sex offenders and mentally disabled people. This allowed Chikatilo to continue his murder spree under the radar. During the year of 1984, 15 more victims were added to the list. This caused police efforts to escalate immensely. This time they installed surveillance devices to local transport