A man is due to go on trial in Moscow accused of the murders of 49 people.
33-year-old Alexander Pichushkin is alleged to have committed his first murder as a student in 1992.
Investigators say he told them that he aimed to kill one person for every square on a chessboard. They had said earlier that there was proof he had killed 62 people.
Most of Pichushkin's alleged victims were described as elderly alcoholic men whom he invited to join him for a drink under various pretexts, such as that he was mourning the death of his dog.
Investigators claim Pichushkin stepped up his campaign in 2001, bludgeoning his victims to death with a hammer. Earlier victims were said to have been killed by pushing them through a manhole, where they drowned due to their inebriated state. Some managed to escape, only to be bludgeoned to death by the alleged killer.
The murders were committed in the city's sprawling Bitsevsky park. Three women were also among the victims. The killing of the third woman, a shop assistant who had worked with Pichushkin, led police to identify their suspect, as she left a note for her son with his phone number before she went on a walk with him.
At today's pre-trial hearing judge Andrei Zubaryov said Pichushkin had himself asked that the case be heard in open court, under the full glare of the Russian media.
Television footage taken after his arrest in June last year showed the defendant declaring in a monotone: 'I never would have stopped, never. They've saved many people by catching me.'
Russian media has reported that Pichushkin was arrested in an elaborate operation in which special forces officers dangled on ropes from the outside of his apartment building to prevent the suspect from trying to kill himself.
Russia has a moratorium on the death penalty, meaning that if found guilty, Pichushkin would face life imprisonment.
Following jury selection hearings today, the trial is due to start tomorrow and continue for several weeks.
