Suspect held in Estonia for Kew murder is the victim’s ex-lover
THE fugitive arrested on suspicion of killing a French filmmaker in Britain is her former lover, it emerged last night.
Kirill Belorusov, 32, travelled to his native Estonia on the day his ex-girlfriend Laureline GarciaBertaux, 34, was discovered buried in a shallow grave in her back garden in London.
Belorusov, the son of a policeman, is understood to have celebrated his birthday at a bar with friends in Estonia capital Tallinn two days later.
He was arrested on Wednesday and Estonian prosecutors are planning to extradite him to the UK. Former sailor Belorusov, who worked as a barman in London, is understood to have dated Miss Garcia-Bertaux, of Kew, south-west London, ‘on-andinto off’ for five years.
On social media, she wrote about having a ‘perfect fiancé’, although it is unclear if the pair were ever engaged.
They lived in various London addresses together and bought pet puppies. One friend said the pair discussed the possibility of having children.
In 2017, they celebrated Christmas Day together. Miss Garcia-Bertaux wrote online about ‘my beautiful man’. The last picture of them together was posted on social media in January 2018. It is not clear when they split up.
Friends of Belorusov said he seemed ‘completely normal’ when he met them for drinks in Tallinn last week. Ian Syalik said: ‘He mentioned nothing about his ex-girlfriend, I never even knew of her until now. He seemed completely normal. This is a big shock.’ Belorusov grew up in Tallinn and served in the country’s navy before moving to London ten years ago. He worked as a barman at a nightclub near King’s Cross.
His 60- year- old policeman father Oleg told the Mail: ‘I know nothing about this tragedy. I hope that the criminal will receive a well- deserved punishment.’ A European Arrest Warrant was issued on Tuesday and Belorusov was arrested 24 hours later – thought to be a record speed.
Miss Garcia-Bertaux, who lived alone, disappeared on March 3, after telling friends she planned to go for a coffee with a man. Police initially treated the case as a missing person inquiry until she was found strangled nine days ago.
She worked on films starring with stars including Sheridan Smith and Dame Joan Collins.