Chessboard Killer to answer grisly charges

The main trial questioning of Aleksandr Pichushkin, known as the Chessboard Killer, is over and he's now expected to enter a plea on 49 charges of murder and three of attempted murder. The 33-year-old has already confessed to 48 of the grisly Moscow murde

It is alleged Pichushkin kept a constant record of his victims and he claims to have killed 63 people, but was aiming to kill 64 – the number of squares on a chess board.

The court has heard Pichushkin picked Bitsevsky Park in Moscow as the place for his alleged murders. Most of the victims were men, many of them homeless.

All the witnesses in the case have been questioned, including the defendant, and all written evidence has been examined.

The parties are due to present their arguments to the court on Monday, October 22.