After two months of interrogations, Rîmaru admitted to 23 very serious crimes. In fact, he had been arrested for only three murders; the rest (another murder, six attempted murders, five rapes, one attempted rape, and seven thefts of various degrees) he or his father confessed to. On one hand, he tried to convince the authorities that he was not responsible on the grounds of insanity, and that he did not realize the women would die; on the other hand, he insisted he was guilty, asking to be taken to the scenes of his crimes. During police lineups, victims brought in to identify him would tremble when their eyes met his, despite there being no danger to them now. Allegedly, for the public at large, Rîmaru's name itself inspired a vague dread; "rîmă"/"râmă" means "earthworm" in Romanian.