Editing Andrei Chikatilo (section)

===Closing arguments and conviction===
On 9 August, the defence delivered their closing arguments before the judge. Upon beginning his 90-minute closing argument, Khabibulin first stated he had no confidence his voice would be heard above the "general outcry" for retribution against Chikatilo, before questioning the reliability of the [[forensic evidence]] presented at the trial and describing areas of Chikatilo's confessions as being "baseless". He also questioned the judge's objectivity and harked back to the decision of the court not to allow the defence to present testimony from independent psychiatrists; emphasizing that crimes of this nature could not have been committed by an individual of sane mind. Khabibulin then formally requested the judge find his client not guilty.{{sfn|Cullen|1994|p=246}}

The following day, prosecutor Anatoly Zadorozhny delivered his closing argument before the judge. Harking towards the earlier testimony of psychiatrists at the trial, Zadorozhny argued that Chikatilo fully understood the criminality of his actions, was able to resist his homicidal impulses, and had made numerous conscious efforts to avoid detection. Moreover, Zadorozhny emphasized that in 19 of the charges, the material evidence of the crimes had been provided by Chikatilo himself. Zadorozhny then recited each of the charges before formally requesting the death penalty.{{refn|group=n|Chikatilo was not present in the courtroom throughout the prosecutor's closing argument, having again interrupted court proceedings.}}

Following the conclusion of the prosecutor's closing argument, Akubzhanov invited Chikatilo back into the courtroom before formally asking him whether he would like to make a final statement on his own behalf. In response, Chikatilo simply sat mute.{{sfn|Conradi|1992|p=241}} Akubzhanov then announced an initial date of 15 September for himself and the two official jurors to review the evidence and pass the final sentence upon Chikatilo.{{sfn|Conradi|1992|p=242}} (This date was later postponed until 14 October.){{sfn|Cullen|1994|p=248}} As court announced recess, the older brother of Lyudmila Alekseyeva, a 17-year-old girl killed by Chikatilo in August 1984, threw a heavy chunk of metal at Chikatilo, hitting him in the chest.{{sfn|Conradi|1992|p=241}} When security tried to arrest the young man, other victims' relatives shielded him.{{sfn|Cavendish|1996|p=36}}

On 14 October, the court reconvened to hear formal sentencing (this sentencing would not finish until the following day). Akubzhanov began sentencing by announcing Chikatilo guilty of fifty-two of the fifty-three murders for which he had been tried.<ref>{{cite news|first=Peter|last=Conradi|url=http://old.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/tmt/218388.html|title=A Short Path to Murder|access-date=28 September 2018|newspaper=[[The Moscow Times]]|publisher=Moscow Times LLC|date=26 May 1993|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929075945/http://old.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/tmt/218388.html|archive-date=29 September 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> He was sentenced to death for each offence.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/127225651|title=Russian Rape Figures up Sixteen Per Cent in Post-Soviet Russia|newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]]|date=12 August 1993|access-date=9 February 2022}}</ref> Chikatilo was also found guilty of five counts of sexual assault committed during the years he worked as a teacher in the 1970s. In reciting his findings, the judge read the list of murders again, before criticizing both the police and the prosecutor's department for various mistakes in the investigation which had allowed Chikatilo to remain free until 1990.{{sfn|Conradi|1992|pp=244–248}} Particular criticism was directed towards not local police, but the prosecutor's department—primarily procurator Issa Kostoyev—whom Akubzhanov scathed as "negligent", and who had been dismissive of Chikatilo's inclusion upon a 1987 suspect list compiled by police. Akubzhanov also rejected the numerous claims Kostoyev had made to the media in the months prior to the trial that police had deliberately withheld documents pertaining to Chikatilo from the prosecutor's department as being provably baseless, adding that proof existed he had been in possession of all internal bulletins.{{sfn|Conradi|1992|p=247}}{{refn|group=n|Akubzhanov would subsequently write to both the Public Prosecutor of Russia and the Ministry of the Interior, urging both bodies to adopt sufficient measures in order to prevent a repetition of such negligence and incompetence by the prosecutor's department.{{sfn|Conradi|1992|pp=246–247}}}}

On 15 October, Akubzhanov formally sentenced Chikatilo to death plus eighty-six years' imprisonment for the fifty-two murders and five counts of sexual assault for which he had been found guilty. Chikatilo kicked his bench across his cage when he heard the verdict and began shouting abuse.<ref>{{cite news|first=Wendy|last=Sloane|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=886&dat=19921015&id=rrE0AAAAIBAJ&pg=4816,1957003&hl=en/|title=Soviet Serial Killer is Sentenced to Life Term|newspaper=[[The Prescott Courier]]|publisher=[[Western Newspapers]]|date=15 October 1992|access-date=18 July 2016}}</ref> However, when given an opportunity to make a speech in response to the verdict, he again remained silent.{{sfn|Conradi|1992|p=249}} Upon passing the final sentence, Akubzhanov made the following remark:
{{blockquote|Taking into consideration the horrible misdeeds of which he is guilty, this court has no alternative but to impose the only sentence that he deserves. I therefore sentence him to death.}}
Chikatilo was taken from the courtroom to his cell at Novocherkassk prison to await execution. He did lodge an appeal against his conviction with the [[Supreme Court of Russia]], but this appeal was rejected in the summer of 1993.{{sfn|Cullen|1994|p=259}}{{refn|group=n|The decision of the Russian Supreme Court at this appeal was that Chikatilo's guilt of nine of the 52 murders—those of Zakotnova, Tkachenko, Pozhidaev, Stalmachenok, Shalapinina, Tsana, Bilovetsky, Voronko and Kravchenko—was not sufficiently proven. Nonetheless, the Supreme Court found Chikatilo's conviction for the remaining forty-three murders sufficient, and upheld his death sentence.<ref>[https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/%D0%9E%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D0%92%D0%B5%D1%80%D1%85%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE_%D0%A1%D1%83%D0%B4%D0%B0_%D0%BF%D0%BE_%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BB%D1%83_%D0%A7%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%BE Определение Верховного Суда по делу Чикатило]</ref>}}