Ion Pistol
Ion Pistol 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.
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; he asked for an onion omelette for his last meal.
