MOSCOW, Oct 29: Russia’s ‘chessboard murderer’ was sentenced to life in prison on Monday for killing 48 people, after the supermarket worker told a court last week he felt like God as he decided whether his victims should live or die.

The 33-year-old Alexander Pichushkin stood with his head bowed inside a glass cage in the courtroom as the judge, Vladimir Usov, read out the sentence.

Asked if he understood, Pichushkin without lifting his head replied: “I’m not deaf. I understood.” Pichushkin was given his nickname by the Russian media’’.—Reuters