The case involves charges against 32-year-old Artur W., who stabbed the victim near the heart during an argument, and 38-year-old Katarzyna S., the attacker’s common-law wife, who covered up traces of the crime.
The incident occurred at approximately 1:30 a.m. An alcohol-fuelled party had been taking place since morning that day in a flat rented by a friend of the accused. At least six people were present: the host, the victim, the accused and his father, as well as two women—the common-law wives of the accused and the victim.
After midnight, when everyone was already intoxicated and the victim’s common-law wife had gone to his flat on the building’s 11th floor, the accused argued with his 20-year-old girlfriend. He reproached her and even hit her, breaking her glasses. The woman fell onto the sleeping victim, and when he woke up, he admonished the accused, saying that he should not behave that way towards his pregnant partner.
As Artur W. continued to berate her, the woman fled to the victim’s flat, where the accused woman was staying with her teenage daughter. Meanwhile, an altercation broke out between the men, during which Artur W. grabbed a knife and stabbed the victim in the chest. The wound was deep and penetrated to the heart.
Seeing that the victim was bleeding, the accused dragged him out of the flat where the party was taking place and took him to the flat where the women and the teenager were staying. Artur W. prohibited anyone from calling an ambulance. He also ordered Katarzyna S. to help him wash and change the victim and to mop the floor, which bore traces of the injured man’s blood. The woman followed the order without protest.
The accused washed his neighbour with a sponge and changed his clothes. Only when the victim began turning blue did he allow someone to call an ambulance. He fled, taking the bloodstained clothing with him. He hid it on the balcony of his flat. He threw the knife onto the roof of a neighbouring building.
The emergency doctor who arrived at the scene pronounced the 54-year-old man dead.
After the suspects were arrested, Artur W. was charged with intentional murder and, at the prosecutor’s request, was remanded in custody. Katarzyna S. was charged with aiding the perpetrator, namely obstructing criminal proceedings by covering up traces of the crime. S. formally denied committing the alleged act, but gave an explanation confirming her involvement. She claimed that she was afraid of her co-defendant because he became aggressive after drinking alcohol. She faces up to five years in prison.
Artur W. also gave an explanation. He denied committing the crime. He could face life imprisonment.
The case will be heard by the Regional Court in Legnica.
Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Legnica/ii