Ion Pistol
Ion Pistol (December 1, 1946 – May 12, 1987) was the last person put to death in Romania prior to the execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu. He was tried for capital murder on April 9, 1986, before a 500-person auditorium. His lawyer, Liviu Ardeiaș, claimed that sentencing him to death would result "not in execution, but in murder". The same day, the Teleorman County tribunal handed down a death sentence. On May 4, 1987, Ceaușescu rejected his plea for clemency. Eight days later, he was executed by shooting at a prison in the Bucharest area.[1]
According to Pistol's penal file, he was born in Trivalea-Moșteni Commune, where he was living at the time of his arrest, and had a fourth-grade education. The report indicates he killed his mother Gheorgița with multiple axe blows on the night of October 30-31, 1985 and was arrested on November 1. He was taken to Jilava prison prior to execution.[2]
Notes
- ↑ (Romanian) Mihai Mincan, "Pedeapsa cu moartea în perioada comunistă", Adevărul, August 1, 2010; accessed December 11, 2013
- ↑ (Romanian) Pistol Ion at the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile site; accessed December 12, 2013
