Ivan Kulesh

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.^[1][2]

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.^[3]

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 37 million rubles (equivalent to roughly US$5,600 today)^[4] were stolen from the store, as well as alcoholic beverages. After these murders, the Lida Police Department sent out orientations to two local residents^[clarify] born in 1978 and 1979.^[5] 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),^[2] but the woman denied having received more money than before.^[3] When the money ran out, he laid a laptop in a pawn shop and wrote a statement about the theft (allegedly, the laptop was stolen on a train). For the false report, he was given a fine worth 4.5 million rubles ($500).^[2] It was reported that he had been interviewed once for the case, but was too drunk to say anything.^[2]

On 28 November 2014, near the village of Selets, Kulesh, while intoxicated, struck a 44-year-old saleswoman of a local store several times with an axe, taking the keys and, according to various sources, stealing between 5 and 8 million rubles ($600–900), as well as alcoholic drinks, cigarettes, sausages, and sweets worth another 8 million rubles ($900). While leaving the store, he ran into the victim's son, who had already found the body of his mother in the woods thanks to a barking dog. Threatening him with a knife, Kulesh ran away and took a train to Baranavichy. The son of the murdered woman reported the criminal to the police and Kulesh was detained on the train at Novoelnya Station.^[2][6][7][8]