Andrei Chikatilo: The Russian Ripper

Andrei Chikatilo: The Russian Ripper Andrei Chikatilo, also known as the Russian Ripper who went on a twelve year killing spree, was born in the village of Yablochnoye, U.S.S.R on the 16th of October, 1936. During this time in the Soviet Union, life was hard for the citizens who were struggling to acquire the essentials required for survival which led some residents to eventually turn to cannibalism. The compounded struggles of trying to survive with the aftermath of world war two would eventually have an impact on how Chikatilo carried out his brutal attacks (Jenkins, 2015). Although he experienced a rough upbringing, Chikatilo was highly educated, earning degrees in literature and engineering from Rostov University. He also was married

After holding a position as a dorm monitor for a short period of time, allegations of sexual assault from the parents came into the light (Jenkins). These allegations along with chikatilo’s history of entering female student’s restrooms would eventually lead to the school ceasing his employment (Hickey, 2016). At the conclusion of his tenure as a dorm monitor, Chikatilo was forced to relocate. In 1978, he claimed his first victim, a nine year old girl. During the commission of the crime, Chikatilo stabbed and choked Lena Zakotnova. He also blindfolded her, to prevent her from making eye contact during the attack. Chikatilo would continue to hinder the victim’s vision as part of the ritual, but over time the level of violence used in this step of the sequence increased greatly (Hickey, 2016). For Chikatilo, encounters with law enforcement are nothing new. At one point he went to the police to inform them of his paraphilic urges and explain that they were a thing of the past citing the fact that he had two children of his own. At the time, the police dismissed this believing that he did not pose a threat (Hickey, 2016). Another brush with law enforcement came at a bus station in 1984. A detective identified Chikatilo and placed him in custody. Following the arrest, authorities ran tests to try to match his DNA to a sample left at a previous crime scene. The results showed that the sample left at the scene were AB while Chikatilo is type A (Bovson,