A SLEDGEHAMMER “maniac” serial killer has been jailed for life after a murder spree which saw him crush the skulls of six people in 17 days.

       Anatoly Shanaurov, 30, from Russia, is thought to be a copycat of notorious Chessboard serial killer Alexander Pichushkin who murdered 49.

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       Anatoly Shanaurov, 30, sentenced to life imprisonment for the cruel murders of 6 people Credit: East2West 3

       He is seen as a copycat of notorious Chessboard serial killer Alexander Pichushkin Credit: East2West

       Car repair shop worker Shanaurov killed all his victims within 17 days in Miass, Chelyabinsk region.

       They were all male and mainly homeless.

       His victims had been struck up to 50 times in the head with a sledgehammer, and their bodies were found in cemeteries or wasteland.

       Like Moscow mass killer Pichushkin - who claimed a “sexual thrill” from each life he took - Shanaurov got his victims drunk with vodka before luring them to remote areas and repeatedly striking them in the head with a hammer.

       Police laid in wait for the new maniac after seeing a man with a “strange walk” on CCTV close to Valery Algazin, 55.

       He was held as he prepared for another killing - with cops discovering a hammer with blood strains in his bag.

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       Senior prosecutor Ruslan Timshin said: “Shanaurov complained about the disorder in his life, low earnings, and no girlfriend.

       “That is why he went out to kill people weaker than himself, so asserting himself.

       “He had no conflict with any of the victims."

       One victim was Ivan Sidorenko, 83, a beggar at a church.

       The killer’s neighbour Oksana said: "He was calm and even a little downtrodden.”

       His family were deeply religious, she added.

       All his victims were killed during July 2020, but the full macabre details only came to light at his trial, when he was sentenced to life.

       Police believe he had sought to emulate Pichushkin, whose victims were found in Bitsevski Park in Moscow.

       Hammer murderer Pichushkin told police his aim was to kill one person for each square on a chessboard.

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       Chess maniac Alexander Pichushkin at court Credit: NTV

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