Russian "cannibal" serial killer confesses to police

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian police have arrested a man who admitted killing at least six people before eating their hearts and livers, media said.

Dubbed the "cannibal serial killer", Alexander Bychkov wrote in a diary of his crimes that he turned to murder after his girlfriend left him for being "a wimp".

Bychkov, 23, was arrested for shoplifting but then told police that he had buried bodies in his backyard in Belinsky, a town some 630 km (390 miles) southeast of Moscow, a spokeswoman for the investigative committee charged with the case told Reuters on Tuesday.

"Six bodies were found buried there," she said, adding that the death toll might be higher still. She said investigators were looking into media reports the killer cut out his victims' livers and hearts and ate them.

In passages from his diary leaked to Russian media, Bychkov said his girlfriend had kicked him out. "She said I was a wimp, not a wolf ... I will show her ... Maybe she will stop complaining and understand that I am a lone wolf."

Daily Izvestia cited a law enforcement source as saying Bychkov had eaten parts of his victims. "Evidence of cannibalism was seen in some incidents," it said.

In 2007, a Russian serial murderer convicted of killing 48 people was jailed for life. Alexander Pichushkin bragged he had no regrets and said killing was like falling in love.

Russian media called him the "chessboard murderer" because he said he planned to kill 64 people - one for each square on the board.

(Reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel; Editing by John Stonestreet)