<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>One of the worst serial killers of all time was arrested in Russia on November 20, 1990.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Over a 12-year span, Andrei Chikatilo murdered at least 52 women and children in the Soviet Union.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Chikatilo, a former teacher fired after facing several molestation complaints, would lure and kill his victims as he travelled across the USSR.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After four victims were linked in 1983, specialist investigators were tasked with finding the killer.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/tropical-cyclone-fina-forms-off-northern-australia/0f75ced2-f1e6-4274-b200-b40b8d939bd0"><strong><span>First cyclone of season jumps to category 2, set to U-turn for coast</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But in his role as a buying clerk, Chikatilo would travel around the country, making it difficult to pinpoint where he was.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Using heavy-handed tactics, police were able to elicit confessions from several intellectually disabled young men.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-november-20-what-happened-on-this-day/06673ccb-ddac-4a93-b353-3b3b4aed8af1" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But those men would be released after the killings continued while they were in custody.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Police claimed in the hunt for the so-called Red Ripper, 95 unrelated murders and 245 rapes were solved.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While many of the crimes happened all over the Soviet Union, detectives realised they were happening within direct rail connection to the city of Rostov.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>And many of the recent cases were happening within close proximity to train stations in the Rostov area.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They then set a trap. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Nearly all train stations in Rostov would be conspicuously patrolled by more than 300 uniformed police officers.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But three others would be left unguarded - or so it seemed.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Instead, plain-clothed officers would linger at the station to watch for anything suspicious.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That suspicious activity was Chikatilo washing his hands and face at a well. He had grass and soil stains on his clothes and a deep wound on his finger.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Police had no formal reason to arrest Chikatilo, but when a decomposing body was found near the station a week later, they put him under surveillance, before arresting him.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/videos/national/man-accused-of-spearheading-perths-illicit-tobacco-ring/cmi5wgn5p001m0gk49sym9sq3"><strong><span>Man accused of spearheading Perth's illicit tobacco ring</span></strong></a><strong></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>During their interrogation, Chikatilo was read extracts from the 65-page psychological profile compiled of the killer before his arrest.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He confessed to 36 of the 38 suspected murders he was linked to. He then made detectives aware of several other victims they had not found.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He was sentenced to death on October 15, 1993.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The following February, he was executed in the typical Russian fashion - without any forewarning.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He was led into a soundproofed room and then killed by a gunshot to the back of the head.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/today-in-history" target="" title="For more from our Today in History archive, click here."><strong><span>For more from our Today in History archive, click here</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank" title=""><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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