The Butcher of Rostov
Can trauma explain Andrei Chikatilo’s violence?
4.4 (30)
57 mins
Explore the crimes of Andrei Chikatilo, the Butcher of Rostov, that terrorized the Soviet Union for years. Discover how investigators struggled to connect cases due to inconsistent evidence and repeated investigative errors. Learn about the psychological understanding later developed to explain his violent patterns and motives.
Ep 1:
Bones in the Forest Strip
A wood-gatherer's grim discovery outside Rostov reveals a savage killer's signature, while we trace the famine, war, and shame that forged Andrei Chikatilo into a monster.
Ep 2:
A Confession That Kills the Innocent
A schoolteacher's hidden house and a murdered girl launch Chikatilo's spree—while Soviet police coerce a confession from an innocent neighbor who pays with his life.
Discussions (5)
Damon
Level 9 · 2 mo agoSoviet Union: we have perfected humanity. Also Soviet Union: let the guy with the knives help search for the bodies he made
Joe
Level 8 · 2 mo agoThe blood type anomaly is what gets me. Hundreds of thousands tested and he kept slipping through because of a one in a million biological quirk. The system failed at every single turn.
Collin
Level 3 · 2 mo agoChikatilo's non-secretor status is confirmed. Roughly 1 in 5 people don't secrete blood type antigens into bodily fluids. Rare but not one in a million as stated.
