MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- A Russian serial murderer dubbed the "Chessboard Killer" was given the maximum sentence of life in prison Monday and ordered to undergo psychiatric therapy for a string of at least 48 murders that terrorized Moscow for years.
Alexander Pichushkin boasted of killing 63 people but prosecutors found evidence only for 48.
A Moscow jury convicted Alexander Pichushkin last week of 48 murders and three attempted murders. Pichushkin claimed he had actually committed 60 murders, though prosecutors were unable to find evidence to prove that.
Pichushkin earned the nickname "Chessboard Killer" for saying he had intended to kill one person for each of the 64 squares on a chessboard.
