Today we’re going to take a look at another horrible case with you.
In November 2023 the former minister of national economy of Kazakhstan 44 year old Kuandyk Bishimbayev did something terrible to his wife 31 year old Saltanat Nukenova.
He desperately tried to hide the traces of his atrocities and to pass off the atrocious crime as some ridiculous accident.
However the story gained wide resonance.
The relatives of the dead woman insisted on the most open trial so that this case would now be watched by millions of people not only in Kazakhstan but also around the world.
It is noteworthy that a few years ago Bishimbayev was convicted in a case of repeated receipt of bribes in especially large amounts and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
But he left prison after only a year.
Many people were sure that this time too the ex minister would use his money and connections and manage to avoid severe punishment.
No one had any doubts about the man’s guilt.
But the main intrigue lay in the term he would receive.
To understand this case in more detail and to understand where it all began and whether it was possible to avoid tragedy it is necessary to study not only the complicated history of the relationship of the couple but also to familiarize ourselves with the biographies of each of them.
We will also try to understand the peculiarities of the trial of the criminal and understand why he insisted on a jury trial.
What is known about the defendant and his family.
Kuandyk Valikhanovich Bishimbayev was born in 1980 on April 11th in the city of Kyzylorda in the Kazakh SSR.
He was the eldest of two children in the family of the deputy of the parliament Vakhan Bishimbayev and his wife Almira Nurlybekova.
Kuandyk’s mother became an entrepreneur in the 1990s.
Before the high profile arrest of her son she owned several large companies.
But in 2024 she promptly got rid of most of them reissuing them to relatives so that all the assets still remained with the Bishimbayev family.
In 2018 when a corruption case was brought against her son the woman acted as his public defender.
When the prosecution asked for a 12 year prison sentence for the defendant Almira called such a sentence destruction of the personality of her son.
Kuandyk grew up together with his younger sister named Aruzhan who was born in 1984.
The man received three higher educations.
He studied at the Kazakh Academy of Management then earned a degree from Kazakh University and later became a recipient of the presidential scholarship program at George Washington University in the United States.
At the age of 26 he defended his PhD thesis in economic sciences.
In 2000 Kuandyk started his career as a manager in a bank.
He briefly interned at the ministry of economy and then held senior positions in large companies for several years before returning to the ministry.
In 2016 he himself became the head of the ministry of economy becoming one of the youngest high ranking officials in Kazakhstan.
However just 8 months later he was dismissed with a great scandal and found himself in prison on the fact of multiple bribes in especially large amounts.
The man was sentenced to 10 years in prison but was released on parole only a year later.
He officially apologized to the then head of state Nursultan Nazarbayev and the latter pardoned him.
Personal life of Kuandyk Bishimbayev.
Before meeting the future victim the defendant twice entered into official marriages.
His first wife was Aigerim Rova whom he married back in 1999 when he was a student.
In 2000 the couple had a common son who was named Alexander Valikhan.
But in 2004 this union broke up.
In 2006 while serving as an adviser to the minister of economy and budget planning of the Republic of Kazakhstan the man married for the second time.
This time his chosen one was Nazim Kuarman Babagalova with whom he lived in marriage for 14 years.
Three children were born in this union.
In 2020 the spouses divorced on the initiative of the woman.
Who was Saltanat Nukenova.
Saltanat Amangeldykyzy Nukenova was born in 1992 on May 15th in the city of Pavlodar located in the northern part of Kazakhstan.
She was the youngest of two children in the family of businessman Amangeldy Nukenov and his wife economist Zhumagul.
The woman’s paternal uncle Kairat Nukenov built a brilliant career in politics headed the regional department of entrepreneurship and trade and he was also the head of the cities of Ekibastuz and Aksu.
As a school girl little Saltanat became seriously interested in astrology.
The girl studied profile literature in detail made horoscopes and natal charts for her friends and classmates.
Surprisingly she managed to create fairly accurate predictions which for the most part came true.
At some point she decided to turn her hobby into a lifelong endeavor and success did not take long to come.
Nukenova promoted astrological services on social networks.
She conducted personal and online consultations made short term and long term forecasts helped others in achieving their goals choosing a profession and spiritual development.
The astrologer also gave advice in love affairs tested people for compatibility and helped to sort out relationships.
It is noteworthy that her clients were exclusively women and girls.
Saltanat quickly achieved financial independence.
She earned decent money doing what she loved what she knew and what brought her pleasure.
She gained a large number of followers on social networks.
Her services were in great demand and her consultations were scheduled for several months in advance.
She was living the life she dreamed of and always aspired to.
A persistent fan.
In the spring of 2022 Bishimbayev accidentally stumbled upon Nukenova’s page on one of the popular social networks.
He liked the young beauty very much and he decided to write to her.
Having thought of nothing better he signed up to her for an astrological consultation.
However she turned him down pointing out that she only provided services to women.
But such a turn only fueled the man’s interest.
The politician persistently tried to get the attention of the charming woman showered her with compliments and even tried to pity her convincing her that only she could help him and only she was trusted as a specialist astrologer.
Saltanat was flattered by this but still stubbornly refused to meet with an obsessive man who was unpleasant and even irritating to her.
Repeatedly the astrologer offered him an online consultation but the man was adamant.
For several months the politician did not leave attempts to ask the beauty on a date.
During this time he managed to find out almost everything about her.
Where she lived.
With whom she communicated.
Where she went.
What she was fond of and so on.
Saltanat still refused to meet him but told her friends that she had a certain persistent admirer.
Eventually Saltanat gave in and agreed to a business meeting for face to face counseling.
The man made every effort to make a good impression on her.
He was polite behaved correctly and courteously.
But that first meeting was just the beginning.
However in a frank conversation with her brother Saltanat claimed that this man was not her type and they would definitely not work out.
At first the behavior of the ex minister did not cause much concern to either Saltanat herself or her relatives.
She was sure that she could keep her boyfriend at a distance.
And relatives and friends knew that this strong and self sufficient young lady could not be forced to do anything against her will.
But in another month the situation began to change rapidly.
Kuandyk managed to literally find a gap in the armor of the beauty getting close to her through the oldest member of the family.
The man expressed a desire to talk to the grandmother of his chosen one and ask for her blessing motivated by the fact that if ever Saltanat changed her mind and agreed to become his wife with her parents he would have time to talk but the grandmother might no longer be alive.
Without exaggeration we can say that this gesture touched Saltanat.
But she still refused to have a relationship with the politician.
Unexpected wedding.
In the fall of 2022 Saltanat visited the house of her parents in Pavlodar and talked about the fact that so far in her personal life no serious changes were expected.
She confessed to her brother that she was confused by the big age difference with Bishimbayev which amounted to 12 years.
That she was not attracted to him as a man at all.
And according to the astrological calculations she made they were not compatible at all.
However less than a month after that visit her brother while scrolling through his social network feed came across a post in which his sister wrote that Kuandyk had officially proposed to her and she had gladly accepted.
Such news to put it mildly shocked the whole family because it was a complete surprise.
Friends of the woman were surprised no less because recently she also told them that this was not the hero of her novel and nothing serious would work out.
Already in December 2022 just a few months after meeting the couple played a luxurious wedding organizing an expensive banquet in one of the most popular establishments in Astana.
It is noteworthy that this marriage was not officially registered.
The young people limited themselves to a special marriage rite performed in a mosque but did not register their union in the registry office and therefore they were considered civil spouses.
At that time Saltanat’s attitude towards her chosen one changed dramatically.
She constantly told her friends about how smart educated well read and erudite he was.
How he could easily and casually support a conversation on any topic.
She also categorically denied his guilt in that high profile corruption case for which he was imprisoned albeit briefly.
She claimed that he had been framed and the man was imprisoned for someone else’s crime.
From the outside the couple looked happy.
The husband presented his beloved with gifts and she called him the most golden husband and claimed that she would never regret her decision to link her fate with him.
Friends envied and sincerely rejoiced for the woman believing that she was very lucky.
But it did not last long.
The first alarming signal.
After the wedding the newlyweds moved to live in the house of the husband’s parents.
The parents occupied the first floor and the son and daughter in law settled on the second floor.
Almira tried to surround her son’s chosen one with love and care often made her gifts and shielded her from routine housework.
But she could not protect her from her son.
Saltanat periodically came to visit her parents with her husband but did not invite them to her home because it irritated Bishimbayev and provoked quarrels.
At first none of her relatives knew about it.
But less than a month after the wedding on New Year’s Eve Ibek came to visit his sister and witnessed a terrible scene.
A large festive table was set in the house but the banquet was to be held in a small family circle.
So when Kuandyk’s cousin and his wife came to them and brought gifts to all family members Saltanat did not have a return gift which embarrassed her very much.
But she quickly found a way out of the awkward situation deciding to give the woman a bottle of expensive perfume which the day before her husband bought her but she had not yet had time to open it.
However her act did not just displease her spouse but literally infuriated him.
The man began to shout that she had no right to give away a thing bought with his money.
He began to insult and call his wife names.
The guests seeing the heated situation hurried to leave the house.
And the parents who tried to stand up for their daughter in law were rudely stopped.
To top it all off the former politician in a rage overturned the table with all the treats and drinks on it finally spoiling the New Year’s Eve party.
Ibek was shocked by what he saw and did not know how to react.
And the next day in a telephone conversation his sister confessed to him that her husband’s behavior had changed a lot after the wedding and she did not know what the reason was.
But she hoped that the crisis would pass and everything would get better.
Her brother suggested that she return home and break off the relationship.
To which Saltanat replied with a categorical refusal.
Sophisticated domestic tyrant.
Two months after the incident Saltanat unexpectedly sent her brother some selfies.
On them she photographed her face with terrible bruises and asked not to question her about anything.
But the alarmed man tried to contact his sister and she did not pick up the phone.
So he called her husband who offered to meet him for a man to man talk.
At the meeting Kuandyk only told his wife’s brother to mind his own business and refused to explain anything about the bruises on the woman’s face.
He also could not answer where she was which gave him the most unpleasant thoughts.
Fortunately however Saltanat was found in her parents’ country apartment to which she had the keys.
Soon Saltanat despite the entreaties of loved ones returned to her husband arguing that she loved him and would do anything to save the marriage.
For some time the spouse behaved impeccably gave her beloved gifts and promised that he would change for her sake.
They even went on a trip together to a popular Maldivian resort and looked very happy.
However later the photos from that vacation were admitted into evidence in court because there were clearly visible bruises on the woman’s body and fingerprints on her wrists as if she was roughly grabbed by hands.
According to Ibek neither to him nor to his parents had his sister complained about problems in the marriage since then.
Although her behavior and changes in appearance spoke for themselves.
She lost a lot of weight withdrew into herself and began to wear more revealing outfits that apparently helped to hide the bruises and abrasions on her body.
Moreover the once successful astrologer and popular blogger stopped holding appointments and even giving online consultations.
On social networks she published only joint photos with her husband telling how lucky she was and how much they loved each other.
As it later turned out the husband simply forbade his wife to do what she loved thus depriving her of a source of income so that she was completely dependent on him.
He also took control of all her movements and contacts.
She could not meet with her friends without his permission.
Could not have lunch in a cafe without him.
Even calls and messages on her phone were checked.
Saltanat appeared everywhere only with Kuandyk who behaved in public as a loving and caring husband.
Most of her friends had no idea about the horrors going on at home and even envied such a family idol.
From the outside the union really looked flawless.
Once a young woman in a frank conversation confessed to a close friend that she was subjected to total control from her husband.
That he forbade her to work and even to communicate with her parents without his knowledge.
And also unjustifiably jealous accused her of cheating and constantly beat her.
Upon hearing this her friend was horrified and advised Nukenova to leave the tyrant immediately.
But she only started screaming in response and said that she did not ask for advice on what to do but only wanted to talk.
It should also be added that the couple trying to save their marriage turned for help to a family psychologist who was supposed to help them in this.
However the husband rejected all the options chosen by the wife and insisted on his own specialist who at the sessions convinced Saltanat that only she was to blame for everything.
In one of the last conversations with her brother she told him about her suspicions that the psychologist was hired by her husband specifically to once again humiliate and demoralize her.
In the summer of 2023 Saltanat made an attempt to leave her husband and decided to move to the house of her parents for a while.
But a week later Kuandyk himself came to pick her up urging her to give him another chance to save their marriage.
Plus he offered to move to his own house and Saltanat decided that a change of scenery could be beneficial to their relationship.
She also believed that the birth of a child together would change her husband’s attitude towards her.
But she could not get pregnant.
The last family dinner.
In October Saltanat made a last attempt to leave her tyrant husband and even moved to a rented apartment which her brother helped her find in a hurry.
However only 10 days later she not only returned to her husband but also went through the Muslim rite of marriage with him again in the mosque.
About this she personally informed her family.
On November 5th she invited her parents brother and a few close friends to the Bau restaurant owned by Bishimbayev’s cousin.
The family was celebrating the reunion of the couple.
And the husband behaved very gallantly and courteously towards his chosen one showed care did not take his eyes off her in love and promised to protect her and carry her in his arms.
That evening everyone believed in the sincerity of his feelings and words.
But the tragedy was only days away.
Terrible news.
On November 9th of the same year Saltanat’s brother came home from work and was minding his own business when suddenly there was a phone call and his relative asked in a frightened voice whether what was being written on social networks was true.
The man did not understand what it was about and asked her to clarify what had happened.
Then the woman sent him a link to a news item that said the former minister of economy had killed his young wife.
Ibek was discouraged by this news but did not believe in the truthfulness of what was written.
The day before he had talked to his sister and she once again said that she was going to leave her husband.
Saltanat asked her brother if she could come to him for a sleepover and he replied that she could do so at any time indicating where the spare keys to the front door were.
But neither that evening nor the next day did Saltanat come home and her phone had been silent ever since.
The man rushed to his sister’s house but there was no one there.
Her husband was also not answering his phone and the situation was quickly escalating.
The decision was made instantly.
To go to the family restaurant from where Saltanat had last contacted and look for answers there.
While his brother was on the road he received a call from his frightened parents who had also read the news and tried to find out what had really happened.
But his son could not answer them and only promised to look into it.
There were many policemen in the restaurant who having learned that Saltanat’s relative had arrived first of all began to express their condolences to him noting that his sister could not be helped and died before the medics arrived.
Ibek could not believe his ears.
It seemed to him that all this was some monstrous mistake.
But the terrible news was true.
The testimony of the detainees.
By the time the dead woman’s brother arrived Kuandyk had already been arrested and sent to the station as the main suspect.
He categorically denied his guilt wrote off what had happened as a horrible accident and claimed that he was trying to help his wife.
His brother and restaurant owner Bakhytzhan Baizhanov was also taken into custody on suspicion of complicity.
At the first stages the suspect’s lawyer insisted on the complete innocence of his client noting that there was no evidence of his guilt.
But as it soon turned out the evidence was promptly tried to be destroyed.
The ex minister and his brother deleted the recordings from the video cameras inside and outside the restaurant.
But specialists managed to restore the video materials and what was filmed there literally shocked everyone without exception.
The investigation of this difficult case lasted almost 4 months and all this time the main suspect insisted on his innocence and behaved as if he was initially confident in impunity.
At the same time he was incriminated with the article murder with particular cruelty.
It should be noted that forensic experts who examined the body of the deceased noted that for the first time they encountered such extensive and severe injuries.
Some of them the woman received about 6 to 8 hours before her death.
Therefore she was beaten long and severely leaving literally no living space on her face and body.
But the suspect’s lawyers tried in every possible way to minimize his guilt.
He himself claimed that almost all the injuries of his wife she caused herself because she was drunk constantly falling and banging her head on the tiles in the toilet and on the furniture.
Trying to reconstruct a picture of what happened investigators found out that on that fateful evening November 8th 2023 the spouses together with friends went to the concert of singer Dima Bilan.
There they strongly quarreled.
But about the cause and nature of the quarrel friends could not say anything intelligible because the music was playing loudly in the hall and they did not immediately realize that the couple was scandalizing believing that they were just discussing something.
Then the spouses suddenly left the hall and departed without saying anything to anyone.
The couple went to the Bau restaurant where they continued to quarrel having closed themselves in one of the VIP cabins.
The camera footage showed that the man took a few bottles of alcohol from the bar and retired to a booth with his wife.
There in the process of drinking wine and clarifying relations the woman said that this could not go on and she intended to leave her husband.
Bishimbayev was enraged by this.
He began to shout threaten and slapped Saltanat.
After that she called her brother and said that she would come to his house for the night because she had finally decided to leave her husband.
Around midnight the young woman went outside intending to go to her brother’s house.
But her husband caught up with her there and continued the scandal.
The surveillance footage showed that they argued for about 15 minutes.
But then the man managed to convince the spouse to go back into the building for a few minutes.
The couple still continued to quarrel in the vestibule and then they again secluded themselves in a stall.
Unfortunately there were no cameras there so investigators could only guess what was going on inside.
The recordings from the camera located in the hallway showed how Saltanat tried her best to get away from her husband behaving calmly and keeping her distance while he constantly tried to get closer to her grabbed her hands head shook her and pressed her against the wall.
In court the defendant’s lawyer called these actions stroking.
Saltanat unable to escape tried to hide from the tyrant and locked herself in the toilet.
However this did not stop the husband and he began to literally kick the door trying to get inside as evidenced by the corresponding injuries.
He forced the wife to open the door and immediately struck her several times in the face.
He then reproached her and accused her of living at his expense and that Kuandyk had bought her everything she had.
It is difficult to judge what happened next.
The defendant claimed that his wife got angry and in a fit of rage took off all her clothes and jewelry which she then flushed down the toilet to show that she did not need anything from him.
According to another version the man himself forced her to undress in order to humiliate her once again.
After the gold jewelry went down the drain Bishimbayev became furious and hit his wife several times in the face with his fist and then pushed her so hard that she fell and hit the toilet.
But at trial he claimed that the wife was drunk and while undressing fell several times herself hitting her head on the tiles and plumbing.
Then according to the defendant he and his wife intended to go home and left the restaurant.
But he himself did not dare to drive as he had drunk a lot of alcohol and did not want to call a cab to avoid shame because he was ashamed of his drunken wife who was in an unsightly state in a coat over underwear.
So they went back to the Bau still in the same stall.
Soon the couple came out again and headed for the exit but Saltanat stopped at the mirror looking at her broken face.
Then her husband began to forcefully push her toward the exit.
Then the process turned into a brutal beating of the unfortunate woman.
The man mercilessly beat her with his hands and feet dragged her by the hair and around 7 in the morning still by the hair dragged her back to the VIP cabin.
There the man effectively finished his young wife.
Although at the trial he claimed that he did not touch her and that she herself fell and hit the floor and furniture.
Then Saltanat allegedly lay down on the sofa and fell asleep and he noticed a bruise on her face and became concerned.
But he did not call an ambulance.
Instead he called a fortune teller to make a reading and tell him if everything was all right with his wife.
The fortune teller assured him that the woman was drunk and needed to sleep.
So Kuandyk calmed down and decided not to touch her.
He claimed to have heard snoring which he later found out was a death rattle.
Toward noon realizing that his wife was no longer breathing the man called his brother Bakhytzhan Baizhanov and asked him to come urgently.
Together they dismissed the staff and closed the establishment to visitors after which they began to delete the footage from all the CCTV cameras.
Later at the trial Baizhanov claimed that he believed his brother that the woman was drunk and asleep and agreed to delete the recordings as they allegedly depicted Saltanat’s indecent behavior dishonoring her honor and the honor of her family.
Baizhanov called an ambulance only toward evening when the woman’s body was already cold and rigor mortis had begun.
According to him he tried to perform resuscitative actions but they were useless because Saltanat had long since died.
Law enforcement officers who arrived on the scene arrested both brothers.
The opinion of Bishimbayev’s former wife.
While the investigation was going on the former wife of the defendant and mother of his three children Nazim Kuarman Babagalova was also under scrutiny.
Several years ago when the ex minister was arrested in a corruption case she spoke in his defense.
But almost immediately after he was released she filed for divorce.
The reason given was irreconcilable differences.
And she herself claimed to have outgrown that marriage.
However after the high profile accusation of her ex husband in the brutal murder of his new girlfriend Nazim gave a frank interview in which she admitted that the man was really capable of such a crime.
The woman said that they had been married for 14 years but in 2011 after the birth of their second child he became aggressive selfish and narcissistic believing that the whole world should revolve around him and his opinion was paramount.
In addition the man was constantly cheating on his wife without hiding it.
But it was only after Bishimbayev’s arrest in 2017 when access to personal data in the former minister’s phone was obtained that his wife realized the extent of the cheating.
According to her her husband had several mistresses and they were constantly changing.
And after Kuandyk was released by the pardon commission he became even more violent and aggressive.
A month later a quarrel broke out between the couple over some trifle but the man instantly flew into a rage and threw a toilet lid at Nazim which he ripped out with his bare hands.
The woman managed to dodge but it was at that moment that she realized that the marriage was over.
In her opinion Kuandyk held back his demons for so long because he realized that she would not tolerate it.
But he allowed himself to humiliate and insult his mistresses who could not resist him.
In the case of Saltanat Nazim believed that the man initially chose his victim tested the limits of her patience and submission and when he realized that she would not go anywhere and would not complain he showed her his true face of a sophisticated sadist.
Why a jury trial.
The trial began in March 2024 and it was immediately clear that the case would not be easy.
The relatives of the murdered woman insisted that the trial be as open as possible with journalists present and the whole world able to watch what was happening in the hall.
They feared that the defendant would use his money and extensive connections to put pressure on witnesses and judges and try to avoid harsh punishment.
In turn Bishimbayev insisted on a jury trial and his request was granted.
Twelve jurors were selected.
Ten main jurors and two additional jurors as well as the judge himself.
All this was done with the sole purpose of avoiding the maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Previously the ex minister had already been convicted of a serious offense but was released on parole and a new particularly serious crime would have guaranteed him a life sentence.
However in the case of a jury trial the criminal would only receive the harshest punishment if all the jurors plus the judge himself voted in favor.
The likelihood of that outcome was extremely slim.
So the defendant clung to that possibility.
Trial sessions.
The defendant repeatedly stated that he did not recognize himself guilty of premeditated murder with particular cruelty insisting that everything happened accidentally due to a tragic confluence of many factors.
According to the man the spouse herself provoked him insulted shouted and threw herself into the fight.
But numerous recordings from video surveillance cameras which experts fortunately managed to recover spoke to the contrary.
Initially they tried to incriminate Bishimbayev under the article domestic violence which in Kazakhstan thanks to lenient legislation did not entail serious punishment.
But this aspect caused a wave of criticism and condemnation especially from the relatives of the dead woman.
Her mother tearfully stated in court that she was not even allowed to say goodbye to her daughter because the injuries were so horrible.
But now her son in law could get off with a light punishment which deprived her of faith in justice.
Amid public outrage a law was approved in April 2024 to toughen penalties for domestic violence in Kazakhstan.
Kuandyk also tried to put serious pressure on his brother accused of complicity forcing him to give false testimony in order to get away with it.
However Baizhanov asked the court to shield him from his relative and his petition was granted.
Each time during the sessions Bishimbayev tried in every possible way to denigrate his late wife calling her an inadequate unbalanced alcoholic who constantly cheated on him and provoked him to rudeness.
He tried to convince the court that he had acted in a state of passion that night and had only hit his wife a couple of times but those injuries were not fatal.
All the other injuries were allegedly self inflicted by her constantly falling down under the influence of alcohol.
And the livid marks on the woman’s neck he wrote off to resuscitation measures and attempts to bring her to her senses claiming that this was how he helped her.
According to the second defendant in the case the relative did not allow him to call medics to the dying woman and was only concerned about deleting the footage from all the cameras as quickly as possible.
Kuandyk then ordered him to take his wife’s cell phone to their home to simulate her movement around the city and to make it appear that she had returned to the apartment because he knew that his brother was tracking her geolocation.
During the ninth hearing the defendant and his lawyer requested the recusal of the judge accusing her of lack of impartiality.
However the recusal was denied and the judge continued to conduct the trial until the verdict.
What was the verdict.
On May 13th 2024 Kuandyk Bishimbayev was found guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm torture and murder of his common law wife.
He was sentenced to 20 years under the article murder as well as 7 years for battery and torture.
By partially adding up the terms the man received 24 years in prison.
A relative of the ex minister Bakhytzhan Baizhanov was sentenced to four years in prison for harboring.
The court took into account the fact that earlier Baizhanov had no problems with the law sincerely repented and cooperated with the investigation in every possible way.
Family members of the deceased Saltanat were dissatisfied with the court’s decision.
Her father previously said that he hoped for a life sentence for his former son in law and any other decision of the court would be unfair.
At the same time the brother of the murdered woman noted that 24 years in prison for 44 year old Bishimbayev was practically a life sentence.
