Ivan Kulesh

Ivan Kulesh (; 1986 – 5 November 2016) was a Belarusian criminal and serial killer. Between 2013 and 2014, the drunken Kulesh killed three saleswomen in two stores in the Lida District, Grodno Region, after which he stole money and goods. For his crimes, he was sentenced to death and subsequently executed.

Early life An orphan since six months of age—Kulesh's mother died shortly after his birth, and he never knew his father—Kulesh was brought up in an orphanage with his brother and sister. He graduated from the ninth grade at school, and at age 18 was convicted of theft. After his release, Ivan was engaged in temporary part-time work for his neighbours, an auto service station, and a construction site, as well as picking berries and mushrooms. Officially, he was registered in the Baranovichy District, but lived in the Lida District.

Kulesh's common-law wife described him as a man who often drank but was rarely prone to outbursts of aggression. He had explained to her his unwillingness to change his life by saying that "everyone around was also drinking." "I always wondered how could he be so calm. I could scream and shout: how much can you drink, and in response—nothing", she told reporters. According to her, Ivan spent his free time drinking beer, smoking cigarettes, playing computer games and sleeping, paying very little attention to her and their child.

Murders On the evening of 15 September 2013, two saleswomen (born in 1968 and 1957) were killed in a store on the outskirts of Lida. Around 35 to 37million rubles (equivalent to roughly US$ today) were stolen from the store, as well as alcoholic beverages. After these murders, the Lida Police Department born in 1978 and 1979. Subsequently, Kulesh confessed to this double murder: according to him, he had come to Lida for City Day, got drunk, and, when he ran out of money, decided to steal something and stumbled upon the store. Finding a metal pipe nearby, he entered the then-closed store through the back door and hit the first saleswoman on the head and the second one in the sales area. Then, he returned several times and struck new blows on the victims. The stolen amount was spent in about six months: he supplied his common-law wife with money (two months after the crime, she gave birth to a daughter),

Trial After the arrest, Kulesh began to cooperate and confessed to the double murder in the hope of replacing the death penalty with a life sentence: "I understood that I could not get away. They said that for the jury, a confession could be a mitigating circumstance. ... Maybe in 50 years, I will see my daughter," he said at the trial. In the pre-trial detention centre, Kulesh visited a priest and a psychologist, and began taking antidepressants. The case was handled by the Grodno Regional Court, and on 20 November 2015, the court sentenced Kulesh to death.

On 5 November 2016, Ivan Kulesh was executed by pistol-shot, along with two other convicts. Belarus is the only European country still practising capital punishment.