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Paratrooper Ionel Boeru can vividly recall the day Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu died a quarter of a century ago – because he was the executioner.

Boeru says it was the 29 bullets from his AK-47 rifle that killed the evil president and his ruthless wife Elena when they were lined up against a courtyard wall and executed by firing squad.

Then an army captain, Boeru remembers how the 71-year-old tyrant was smartly dressed and smelled heavily of aftershave.

“Ceausescu’s last words were, ‘Long Live the Socialist Republic of Romania, ­independent and free’,” says Boeru.

In contrast Elena Ceausescu smelled badly of body odour.

And her last words were far from statesmanlike. “She yelled at a soldier, ‘You motherf****er’,” he says.

Boeru, now 56, rarely talks about what happened on Christmas Day 1989.

He has not yet told his nine-year-old daughter Andria he was the man who killed the ­Ceausescus, ending a brutal regime whose notorious security police killed thousands.

(Image: Getty)

He returned to Ceausescu’s grave with the Daily Mirror for a rare visit.

He has been there only twice before.

Looking at the gravestone he says quietly: “I have no regrets, no regrets at all. Yes, I’m sure it was my bullets killed them both.

"It is not a thing of pride, but it is what happened”

Then, in extraordinary detail, he describes what happened that bitterly cold overcast day back in 1989, much of which has never been told before.

The fall of the Communist Iron Curtain in Eastern Europe began in 1989 when an electoral victory by Solidarity in Poland led a wave of peaceful revolutions in Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia.

Only in Romania did a demand for ­democracy result in bloodshed, when ­Ceausescu personally ordered troops to fire on demonstrators.

More than 1,100 were killed in three weeks of revolution that December before the tyrant was toppled after 22 years as head of state.

Ceausescu and his wife fled the capital Bucharest by helicopter on December 22, fearing for their lives.

They made it as far as Targoviste, a small town 50 miles north, where they were forced to land. Tricked into taking refuge in an agricultural technical institute, they were locked in and arrested.

Three days later, Boeru was one of only 15 people inside a tiny makeshift courtroom at Military Base 01417 in Targoviste as the Ceausescus faced a secret trial, accused of ordering the deaths of 60,000 people and corruptly stashing up to a billion dollars in foreign bank accounts.

He says: “I was in the courtroom and had orders to execute the Ceausescus if there was any attempt to rescue them.

"I had my gun by my chest – I was watching them at all times. I was eavesdropping when the judges were deciding the verdict and during the deliberations.

“Ceausescu said to his wife he believed they would be acquitted. They were speaking very softly. He was often touching or stroking her leg to reassure her.

"Then the judges came back and said they were guilty. They delivered the sentence ‘Capital punishment’ then left.”

The sentence was to be carried out at once.

“Now there were just three of us in the room,” recalls Boeru.

“Ceausescu said he was betrayed by his generals – one of them had been in court making a paper aeroplane.

“I remember him being asked where his bank accounts where, where he kept his money. He said that he didn’t have any.”

Bizarrely a colonel then brought in shots of insulin for Ceaucescu, a diabetic.

“That was strange when he was about to be killed,” says Boeru.

His wife sneered, ‘What’s he going to do with them now?’

“I was ordered to take them out separately and shoot them. But they asked me to die together and this request was accepted.

“Three soldiers came in with rope and tied their arms behind their backs.

“I and another soldier took Ceausescu, and two others took his wife. We went outdoors, first with Ceausescu, and turned left to get to the execution point.

“We were halfway there when he stopped and started to mumble and sing the first verse of the Internationale.

"Then he shouted, ‘Long Live the Socialist Republic of Romania. Independent and Free.’ ”

Boeru heard a commotion just behind him.

He explains: “A serviceman who was nicknamed ‘Little Car’ yelled at Ceaucescu’s wife and she said, “Motherf***er.

“I took him to the wall, we turned, took six steps back then turned around – and we noticed one soldier had stayed behind next to the ­Ceausescus.

"He didn’t seem to realise what was going to happen. Then he quickly got out the way!

“I wanted to make sure I had bullets in the barrel so I checked and one came out.

“So I knew I had 29 bullets left. I reminded the guys to put the guns on automatic and when I gave the order they fired.

“I fired the first shots – three bursts of my AK-47. During the first burst I saw Ceausescu fall on his knees and topple backwards.

“The first bullets went into his legs and as the gun went up they went into the upper part of his body.

“I fired the next burst at her. She fell to her left. One of my colleagues forgot to switch to automatic and fired single bullets.

(Image: Getty)

"And the other didn’t fire until later when they were already on the ground. I think he was traumatised.

“So I am certain it was my bullets that killed them both.”

As the couple lay dead Boeru heard shooting from other soldiers standing nearby.

“I feared I was going to be shot next,” he says.

“I put my gun in the air and shouted, ‘This is for my colleagues in Bucharest and all of those in Timisoara’, where many people had been killed.

"I said this out of shock and fear.”

To his immense relief, the other soldiers were just firing at the corpses. The couple were then put into bodybags and carried to a helicopter.

There was so little room on board that one soldier had to sit on top of the bodies as they flew back to Bucharest.

Blood from the Ceausescus’ bullet wounds seeped on to his uniform.

Eventually they managed to hand over the bodies to other soldiers and return to their base. The country was in turmoil and Boeru feared he could be killed at any time.

“It was supposed to be a secret what had happened but when we got back to the base, everyone knew,” he says.

“It was Christmas night so we were allowed a drink. I was given a bottle of Romanian cognac.

“I drank it almost in one gulp. Then I went to bed. I only slept two or three hours, then woke up for dinner. It wasn’t very jovial and we drank vodka. It was usually forbidden.”

Pictures and video footgage of the bullet-riddled bodies of the Ceausescus caused a ­sensation around the world that Christmas.

(Image: Jon Fuller-Rowell / Daily Mirror)

Boeru left the army in 2002 and now lives in a small town 40 miles from Bucharest. He is a father of three.

His elder daughters Ilona, 31, and Maria, 29, who works in the tourism industry in London, are from his first marriage, which broke up after the execution.

“My first wife never agreed to what happened,” he says sadly. “She was afraid there would be revenge. It was a major reason for our marriage split.

“I married again but my nine-year-old does not know anything about this. But she could find out at any point. My wife is scared about that... how our daughter will react.”

Ionel Boeru believes his bullets helped end Communist domination of Eastern Europe and his decisive action in the bloody ­execution was also a good for his career.

“I was promoted from Captain to Lieutenant Colonel and everyone was jealous.

“But all in all, I’m proud that I played a role in the revolution,” he says.