Serial liar who became a killer faces life in prison
A “CALCULATING, deceitful liar” is facing a life sentence after being found guilty of murdering his French film producer ex-girlfriend before burying her in a shallow grave.
Kirill Belorusov (32) strangled Laureline Garcia-Bertaux (34) to death before going shopping for tools to dispose of her body.
She was found naked, bound and wrapped in bin bags in a flower bed in her garden in Kew, south-west London, a day after friends reported her missing on March 5.
Belorusov, who lied about being a stuntman in a Hollywood film, fled to Estonia. He denied murder after being arrested in the capital Tallinn and brought back to the UK.
Belorusov smiled and nodded at Ms Garcia-Bertaux’s sobbing family members after a jury of seven women and five men found him guilty at the Old Bailey yesterday after deliberating for less than two hours.
The judge, Recorder of London Nicholas Hilliard QC, said he faces a life term when he sentences him on Friday, adding: “I’m entirely satisfied the defendant is not someone who believes the lies he tells. He just tells them on a scale and magnitude which I have not encountered before.”
Members of Ms Garcia-Bertaux’s family, including her mother Frederique Bertaux, hugged outside court following the verdict. Ms Bertaux said in a victim impact statement: “It’s incredibly hard to begin to describe my sorrow, my heartbreak.”
Estonian Belorusov worked in bars and nightclubs but claimed to have been a stuntman and a casino bodyguard for high rollers. The court heard he met Ms Garcia-Bertaux in 2009, but they split up in 2017 after she complained that he was a “slob” and would “needle her about her weight”.
He owed her thousands of pounds and made constant excuses to avoid repaying her, even falsely claiming he was dying of cancer. He travelled to London in March on the pretext of helping his ex-partner move home, after lying about finding her a new flat.
Prosecutor Oliver Glasgow QC said: “The last few minutes of Ms Garcia-Bertaux’s life must have been truly terrifying as this defendant squeezed the very life out of her, and as she struggled for her final breath, there must have been a moment of terrible clarity when she realised that the man she cared for was a liar, a cheat and a killer.”
Belorusov was captured on CCTV buying items including an axe in Homebase to dispose of her body, jurors heard. THE Duchess of Sussex left son Archie in the care of his nanny yesterday to sample some of Johannesburg’s creative vibes.
Meghan visited Victoria Yards, a regeneration project that is home to design studios, art galleries and a popular monthly food market.
The duchess’s official Instagram account stated: “It was an exceptional afternoon where the Duchess had the chance to connect with the children and founders of the phenomenal programme for kids’ development Timbuktu in The Valley.”
Meanwhile the Duke of Sussex yesterday honoured the sacrifice of a British soldier who died helping to safeguard endangered wildlife in Malawi.
Harry laid a wreath at a memorial to Guardsman Mathew Talbot in Malawi’s Liwonde National Park, where the serviceman was killed after being charged by an elephant while on an anti-poaching patrol in May.
Guardsman Talbot (22) of the Coldstream Guards, was on his first deployment and was passionate about his work training Malawians to protect animals.