Ion Pistol
Ion Pistol (1 December 1946 – 12 May 1987) was the last person put to death in Romania prior to the execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu. He was tried for murder on 9 April 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 4 May 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 30–31 October 1985 and was arrested on 1 November. He was taken to Jilava prison prior to execution;[2] he asked for an onion omelette for his last meal.[3]
Notes
- ^ Mihai Mincan (August 1, 2010). "Pedeapsa cu moartea în perioada comunistă"". Adevărul (in Romanian). Retrieved December 11, 2013.
- ^ (in Romanian) Pistol Ion Archived 2013-12-16 at the Wayback Machine at the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of the Romanian Exile site; accessed December 12, 2013
- ^ "Pistol ucis de puști. Povestea ultimului condamnat la moarte al lui Ceaușescu. A cerut omletă cu ceapă înainte de execuția din mai 1987". Antena 3 (in Romanian). Retrieved April 18, 2020.