Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast
This Politician Killed His Wife - The Kuandyk Bishimbayev story
Sat, 01 Feb 2025
Kuandyk Bishimbayev is the former Minister of National Economy of Kazakhstan. He murdered wife with one night in a local restaurant.
Chapter 1: Who is Kuandyk Bishimbayev?
So one day, this guy's lurking around on the internet, and he's looking for an astrologer to give him a reading, because I guess he's into that kind of stuff. And finally, he runs across one, and he sees her, and he's like, damn, she's kind of fine. I'd like to get a reading from her. So he reaches out to her, and he tries to book a session.
But unfortunately for him, this astrologer only books sessions with women, because I guess when she books sessions with men, they always try and creep on her. But this guy, he's not going to give up. He really wants this woman's attention. So he gets a female friend of his to book a session with her.
And that female friend books a session, meets up with the astrologer, and she's like, look, I'll be honest, I'm really only here because my friend asked me to come. He's a really good guy. He really wants to get to know you. And so the astrologer's like, ugh, fine, okay, I'll meet your friend. And so finally, they meet up in person.
Now the guy, his name is Bishumbive, but we're just going to call him Bish. And the astrologer, her name's Saltanat. And so Bish and Saltanat meet, and they actually hit it off. And she ends up kind of liking him, and eventually they start dating. And within months of meeting, the two decide to get married. And so far, everything seems to be going great.
Chapter 2: How did Bish meet Saltanat?
until here's the thing all of this is taking place in kazakhstan and in kazakhstan bish ain't no regular dude he's actually kind of a big deal there he's worked in several high-level government positions he was the minister of national economy so basically he was in charge of kazakhstan's economy but then he got convicted for taking bribes and sentenced to 10 years in prison
But I guess he was friends with the president of Kazakhstan at the time, so after two and a half years in prison, the president pardons him and he gets out. My point is, Bish is a very well-connected guy. He's also a very controlling guy. And so anyway, Bish and Sultanat get married, and almost immediately his controlling side starts to come out.
Chapter 3: What were Bish's political connections?
Like he's super jealous, he makes her quit her astrology fortune teller job she loves, and he forbids her from working any other jobs. He starts isolating her from her friends and family. And to make it worse, Bish also starts getting physically abusive with her. Like he gets violent, often and a lot.
And her family knows, and her friends know, and Sultanat sometimes even sends her brother photos of all the bruises Bish puts on her, and she tells him that Bish is responsible. And if you're wondering, okay, so everyone knows he's beating her up, why doesn't anyone report him to the police?
Well, just keep in mind that domestic violence in Kazakhstan at this time is not only viewed very differently than other places in the world, but minor domestic violence is decriminalized here. So, smacking your wife around? Not a crime. Not to mention, Bish is a well-connected guy. And in theory, if she tries to get him in trouble, he could make things difficult for her and her family.
So unfortunately, she's kind of stuck. And at this point, they've been married less than a year and things just keep getting worse. And one night, it all goes downhill. So they're out at this restaurant that his family owns and no one else is there. It's just them and I think some of the staff because the place I think is closed at this time. And so Bish and Saltanat, they start to fight.
Chapter 4: What signs of abuse did Saltanat experience?
Like he's been fighting with her all day, allegedly. And you can see them here on security footage. And so I guess he's mad because he's convinced that she slept with this other guy who she actually didn't sleep with. But if she had, it would have been before she and Bish had even met. So like, I don't know. It was some insecure husband he's mad about. The dude is a psychopath.
Now, at some point during all this fighting, suddenly, pow, he starts hitting her and punching her in the face and grabbing her by the hair. And she eventually escapes, and she tries to hide in a restroom stall, but then, boom, Bish breaks down the stall door, and he drags her back out, and he just keeps punching her and kicking her. And eventually, Bish drags Sultanat by the hair into a VIP room.
Chapter 5: Why was domestic violence decriminalized in Kazakhstan?
And that VIP room is private, so there are no security cameras in there. Now, there are security cameras in other parts of this restaurant. So this whole beating before the VIP room is caught on camera, which I obviously can't show you the full footage. And trust me, you don't want to see it. It's really brutal. So anyway, then he grabs her and he drags her into the VIP room.
And while they're in that room, he continues beating her. And he eventually hits her in the head with some blunt object. We still don't know what. Oh, and it gets even more sinister than that. He's been beating her for hours at this point. And this whole time, he's using his phone and recording little videos of her. I guess he's trying to humiliate her.
He actually records 12 of these videos of himself beating her. And so Sultanat is lying there and she's wounded and she's not really responding and Bish, he just leaves her there in that VIP room for hours. And during this time, like so much time has passed, it's morning now and the restaurant opens back up, I guess. And Bish, he's still there. He still hasn't called an ambulance or anything.
In fact, he's seen having lunch with another woman, like a vegan influencer that he knows. Like it's no big deal. Like his wife isn't secretly in the next room dying. Also, while Satanat is in the next room dying, Bish calls a psychic he knows. Because like I said, he's into that kind of stuff. And I guess he's like, hey, my wife's hurt real bad. Is she going to be okay?
And the psychic is like, yeah, bro, don't sweat it. She'll be fine. Spoiler alert, she won't be fine. In fact, Sultanat doesn't get any medical attention and she dies right there in the VIP room of the restaurant where he left her. Now, at this point, Bish doesn't know that she's unalived. He just knows that she's seriously injured and that this whole scene looks pretty bad for him.
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Chapter 6: What led to the tragic night at the restaurant?
So what does he do? He gets a relative who works at the food court where the restaurant is, and together they send all the staff home so that there are no witnesses sniffing around, and they try to destroy all the security footage of Bish beating her up. And then, finally, 12 hours after he first attacked her, Bish calls an ambulance.
But, unfortunately, by the time paramedics get there, Sultanat has long been unalived. In fact, at that point, they say she had already been dead anywhere from six to eight hours. And so, bam, police arrest Bish and they charge him with torturing and murdering his wife. Four months later, his trial starts and it's live streamed for the whole world to see.
Chapter 7: What was the cause of the couple's final fight?
And this is the first time in Kazakhstan's history that they've publicly live streamed a trial. And so everyone in the country is watching it. This is like the OJ trial for Kazakhstan. Apparently 19 million people live stream it. People in the country, people outside the country. It's wild.
Now at the trial, he and his defense team, they try to argue that Saltanat was crazy, that she was a drunk, that she was violent, that she was a gold digger, that she was cheating on him and that she provoked him. And he also says, yeah, that he did beat her up, but that they're married and beating up your wife isn't a criminal offense in Kazakhstan. So therefore he doesn't deserve prison.
Bish, please. However, the prosecution is able to show the jury and everyone watching at home the security footage from the restaurant that was supposed to have been destroyed. And like I said, that footage is brutal. Allegedly watching the footage made the jury cry. Not to mention, the jury has shown all 12 of those videos that Bish himself recorded on his phone while he was beating her.
And so because of that, ultimately he's found guilty as f**k and he's sentenced to 24 years in prison. While Bish's relative that helped him out, he gets four years in prison for trying to conceal the crime. And the good news is because of this case, Kazakhstan actually changed their laws and domestic violence is now a crime there. And by the way, here's what Sultanat looks like in real life.