The Butcher of Rostov's Last Meal: Serial Killer Supper Series, Part III

Soviet serial killer Andrei Chikatilo - fittingly dubbed the Butcher of Rostov and the Red Ripper - holds the dubious distinction of being one of the most prolific and disgusting mass killers of modern times. To be sure, there are, in the West at least, more famous serial killers - Son of Sam, the Zodiac Killer, Dahmer, Bundy - but in my research I have not come across one who chose his victims with more calculated coldness, or seemed to carry out his crimes with such absolute depraved gusto and complete lack of remorse.

Between 1978  and 1990 he killed over 50 women, boys, and girls. Impotent in his "normal" life, Chikatilo stabbed and often eviscerated his victims, achieving sexual pleasure from their bleeding and dying cries. He sometimes bit or chewed off parts of their faces, and he claimed that he chewed on the uterus of at least one of his victims. He gouged out his early victims' eyes, believing an old folktale that held that the last moments of death were recorded on the retinas of the dead.

The 1995 film Citizen X is a fascinating (fictionalized) look at the frustrating multi-year investigation and the difficulties of finding such a monster in a society which held that serial killers were a manifestion of Western decadence and therefore could not exist in a Communist nation. Indeed, Chikatilo wasn't caught and tried until after the dissolution of the Soviet empire; his trial was the first major media event of the post Soviet period.

During his trial he was kept in a cage in the courtroom, from which he exposed himself, yelled, sang, and refused to answer questions.  He was found guilty of 52 counts of murder and five counts of sexual assault and sentenced to death, though it is believed he is responsible for many more deaths. He was executed in February, 1994, with a bullet behind his right ear.

His last meal? Porridge with a bit of beef.

But because you, dear reader, are not (I presume) a serial killer and therefore deserve better, I made a delicious dish of red wine braised short ribs with polenta to share with you.

This is more of a method than a recipe. Salt and pepper 2 - 3 pounds of short ribs and dredge in flour. Sear in a Dutch oven over high heat until crusty and brown. Remove to a plate. Saute diced carrots, onions, and celery until soft. Add garlic. Deglaze with 2 or 3 cups of dry red wine. Add the ribs back to the pot and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add 2 cups of beef or veal stock and bring to a boil. Throw in a handful of fresh herbs - thyme, rosemary, parsley - cover, and bake at 350 F for 2 - 3 hours, until the meat is falling off the bone. Skim the fat off of the liquid (this is easier if you let it cool a bit), shred the meat and serve over polenta, drizzled with the cooking liquid.

Serve with a dry red wine, or, if you'd like to pretend you're on death row in Russia, perhaps with a bit of ice cold vodka.

I have not been able to find confirmation of this, but one source I read claims that as Chikatilo was being led to his execution, he begged, "Please don't shoot me in the head. The Japanese want to buy my brain."

Further reading: Comrade Chikatilo: the Psychopathology of Russia's Most Notorious Serial Killer
Serial Killer Supper Series, Part I: The Dusseldorf Ripper
Serial Killer Supper Series, Part II: The Blonde Borgia