An alleged serial killer who practiced cannibalism has been arrested in Central Russia. The detainee has confessed to at least six murders, but the number of victims could be higher.
Twenty-four-year-old Aleksandr Bychkov was initially arrested in Russia’s Penza Region on suspicion of involvement in a hardware store robbery. However, while being questioned Bychkov suddenly began telling police about corpses he had buried in a ravine near his home.
According to the police spokesperson, investigators found the remains of six people. They were “recovered from the ground and sent for examination.”
The examination revealed that Bychkov had chopped his victims into pieces. He then cut out their livers and ate them.
“The facts of cannibalism in some episodes did take place,” a high-ranking source from law enforcement body in the region confirmed to Izvestia newspaper.
Police suspect Bychkov may have been involved in more than the six murders he is now charged with, since more people went missing in the region between 2009 and 2011.
“The suspect identified the photographs of people shown to him. In addition, he pledged involvement in other similar cases,” said the official spokesperson of investigation committee, as cited by Izvestia.
Law enforcers have been concealing information about these crimes in an effort to avoid community panic. The local police chief even tried to calm citizens by publishing a newspaper article in which he claimed groundless rumors spread quickly in such a small city. He claimed the investigation had not confirmed that murders had occurred.
Meanwhile, in 2011 the court sentenced disabled man Aleksandr Guplov for these crimes. It is now evident he was most likely wrongfully convicted.