Asteroid Sleuth: The Case of the Maniac Murder Maestro
On May 13, 2026, 22-year-old neo-Nazi leader Michail Chkhikvishvili was sentenced to 15 years in prison in a Federal District Court in Brooklyn, New York, on one count each of soliciting violent felonies, and distributing instructions to make explosive devices and poison. Chkhikvishvili, known to his followers as “Commander Butcher,” was the leader of Maniac Murder Cult, an international, internet-based extremist group that encouraged people to commit acts of hate and violence.
Since 2021, Chkhikvishvili had updated and published successive editions of his “Hater’s Handbook,” which encouraged people to carry out school shootings and gave them suggestions on how to commit mass murder, including by targeting crowded outdoor events. Among the acts he inspired were a 2025 school shooting in Nashville (where he was namechecked by the shooter); the stabbing of five people near a mosque in Turkey in 2024; and the murder of a 74-year-old woman in Romania in 2022. He insisted that his followers record their attacks to prove they were successful and to promote Maniac Murder Cult online. Additional plots contemplated, but not realized, involved lacing candy with the deadly poison ricin, and having someone dressed as Santa hand it out on New Year’s Eve in New York to children he described as “racial minorities and traitors.”
The poisoned candy plot emerged in late 2023 when Mr. Chkhikvishvili sent an undercover FBI agent, whom he believed to be a potential Maniac Murder Cult recruit, “step-by-step instructions” on how to carry out the attack. According to the charging documents, on Jan. 9, 2024, Chkhikvishvili suggested that the undercover agent give poisoned candy to the “Jewish community” on “some Jewish holiday” at “Jewish schools full of kids.”
A native of the Caucasus country of Georgia, Chkhikvishvili was charged in the Eastern District of New York with soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence, and was arrested on July 6, 2024, in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, while traveling from Georgia to Ukraine. Chkhikvishvili was extradited to the US in May 2025, and pleaded guilty in November; defense lawyers attempted to portray Chkhikvishvili as a changed man, due to his experiences in Moldova’s notorious Prison No. 13, where he began to read the Bible and received kindness from other inmates “from diverse backgrounds.” A five-year sentence was requested, with lawyers asserting that Chkhikvishvili “renounces Nazism, antisemitism, racism and violence,” and was “truly sorry,” but Judge Carol Bagley Amon ordered 15 years, just shy of the 17-year maximum sentence.
The skies at his sentencing portray the story in remarkable detail. A cluster of points surrounding the 22 Taurus Sun includes Mercury at 21 Taurus, representing the judge’s decision; Uranus at 0 Gemini, representing his incitement of others into shocking acts; asteroid Child 4580 at 29 Taurus, identifying the intended victims of the specific crime for which he was arrested for promoting; and asteroids Michela 1045 and Mikhailov 1910 at 27 Taurus and 0 Gemini, doubly identifying Michail Chkhikvishvili as in focus, not to say under scrutiny, for the day.
This group forms a T-Square, opposing asteroid Justitia 269 at 23 Scorpio, named for the Roman goddess of justice, with a pairing of asteroids Tantalus 2102 and Santa 1288 at 25 Aquarius and 0 Pisces respectively. Tantalus is named for a mythic Greek king noted for committing heinous acts (including some directed at his own child), and Santa harks back to the original device of the poisoning plot, dressing as Santa to distribute poisoned candy to children (later updated to a Jewish holiday for the undercover agent, after the Christmas holiday window had passed).
Three points appear at station for the arrest, denoting elements pivotal to the case: asteroids Nemesis 128 at 22 Capricorn, Poisson 12874 at 27 Capricorn, and Carol 2214 at 22 Virgo. Nemesis is noted as the bringer of ruin and destruction, and Poisson, essentially “poison” with an extra “s,” represents the vehicle by which this was to be achieved. Carol identifies Judge Carol Bagley Amon, who pronounced sentence in the case. These points trine the solar stellium and form a Grand Trine Kite with the addition of asteroid Candy 3015 at 28 Cancer, representing the contaminated substance, opposed Nemesis/Poisson. This polarity also forms a second T-Square, with Mars at 25 Aries on the fulcrum, ruler of attacks and violent death.
Michail Chkhikvishvili’s role as head of Maniac Murder Cult is seen as asteroid Michel 1318 (masculine French version of Michael/Michail) at 5 Cancer, conjoined asteroid MANIAC 228029 at 3 Cancer, opposed TNO Ixion 28978 at 8 Capricorn, named for the first murderer in Greek myth, with Neptune and Saturn on the fulcrum of a third T-Square, at 3 and 10 Aries respectively. Saturn indicates punishment, Neptune rules prisons.
Though unconfirmed by multiple sources, Michail Chkhikvishvili’s birthdate has been given as 2 August 2003, and a cursory examination of the chart suggests this is accurate. At first glace, we find the 9 Leo Sun conjoined by asteroid MANIAC at 10 Leo, conflating Chkhikvishvili with his cult, certainly an odd coincidence if not the correct date.
The Sun also anchors a Grand Cross, with an opposition to asteroid Michela at 1 Aquarius (Michail), and squares to asteroids Poisson at 5 Taurus and Candy at 2 Scorpio. Again, a remarkable configuration if we haven’t got the date right.
A grouping of asteroid Mikhailov at 8 Pisces with Mars at 10 Pisces and asteroid Child at 7 Pisces alludes to his personal (Mikhailov) animus (Mars) towards children (Child), while a square to a pairing of asteroids Karma 3811 and d’Arrest at 6 and 7 Gemini , in a Grand Cross with TNO Ixion at 6 Sagittarius and Mercury at 4 Virgo, foretells his arrest (d/Arrest) and being called to account for his deeds (Karma) related to his murderous intent (Ixion) in planning (Mercury) violence (Mars). A wide Grand Cross is formed with asteroid Carol (the sentencing judge), exactly conjoined asteroid Apophis 99942 at 15 Virgo, named for the ancient Egyptian personification of pure evil.
The only stationary point is asteroid Nemesis at 19 Sagittarius, preparing to turn direct six days later. This establishes revenge, ruin and destruction as pivotal elements of his psyche and biography. Recall that Nemesis was also stationary at his sentencing, turning retrograde a week later.
Yeah, I think we’ve got our man.
At his arrest on 6 July 2024, we find asteroid Michela at station, at 15 Scorpio, signaling a crisis or turning point has been reached, a new phase is beginning. Michela is caught up in two major patterns, a Grand Cross and a Grand Trine Kite. The Grand Cross is formed by an opposition to Mars (attacks, violence) at 19 Taurus with asteroid Candy (the mooted weapon of choice) at 16 Taurus, and squares to asteroid Nemesis at 21 Leo (which also represents undoing, often self-created) and a pairing of asteroids Mikhailov and MANIAC, at 19 and 20 Aquarius (once again linking him directly with his organization).
The Grand Trine Kite pivots off the same Mars/Candy opposition, as its String, with supporting trines to a stationing Saturn (law enforcement, punishment) at 19 Pisces and a tell-all grouping of the Sun at 14 Cancer, with asteroids Justitia and Themis 24 (respectively the Roman and Greek goddesses of justice) at 5 and 15 Cancer, and asteroid Apophis, that irredeemable evil, at 13 Cancer. Justice has come for Michail Chkhikvishvili.
Asteroid d’Arrest at 29 Aries rests on the fulcrum of a T-Square with Pluto (criminal acts, and planetary ruler of homicide) at 1 Aquarius and Mercury at 6 Leo (ruling children), with asteroids Poisson (poison) at 4 Leo, and Tantalus (heinous crimes) at 0 Leo. Asteroid Child also joins this mix widely, from 24 Capricorn.
The stage was set for the intervention of the Justice Department in Chkhikvishvili’s life by a Lunar Eclipse on March 25th, 2024 at 5 Libra, conjoined natal Themis at 12 Libra, and a Solar Eclipse on April 8th at 19 Aries, opposed it. A subsequent Solar Eclipse on 2 October 2024 at 10 Libra, more closely conjunct natal Themis, cemented the central role Justice would play in his life going forward.
So far as has been reported, Michail Chkhikvishvili perpetrated no crimes himself in any active way, acting rather as a goad and inspiration to others. In that sense, he can be likened to Charles Manson, with whose views on mayhem and murder he would doubtless concur.
