A Russian historian who allegedly beheaded his student lover wants to write a book about the "several seconds" of madness.
Oleg Sokolov, 63, considered one of the world's premier experts on French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, confessed to murdering 24-year-old Anastasia Yeshchenko in November. He was found after drunkenly falling into a river wearing a backpack containing her arms, AFP reported.
He reportedly shot Yeshchenko dead during an argument, before sawing off her legs, arms and head. The rest of her body was found at his home.
In a letter sent to a Russian tabloid newspaper, Sokolov said he deserves "the strictest penalty possible", and tried killing himself when prosecutors took him back to the scene of the crime.
"I remembered it all, as if everything repeated," he told Komsomolskaya Pravda.
He went on to say he doesn't care what anyone says about him anymore.
"It doesn't matter. I killed her and myself too. I do not exist."
But for some reason, he wants to write a book about the whole thing.
"It will be an autobiography about life and love. I will write about everything I did [in my life] and how I crossed it all out in several seconds."
Yeshchenko was reportedly going to leave him before she was killed. Sokolov said he'd like to apologise to her parents "in person".
He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted, which appears likely as he's already confessed.
