The man was jealous of his partner’s new relationship. He denies committing the crime.
The defendant and the 51-year-old victim had been in a domestic partnership for a long time. Both abused alcohol. Among other reasons, this led to their children being placed in care institutions.
The woman decided to undergo addiction treatment at a residential facility. During the therapy, which ended in June 2015, she met another man with whom she decided to build her future. However, she returned home.
In July 2015, she failed to return home overnight several times. The defendant looked for her at friends’ homes. Eventually, they reconciled. The woman began drinking again with her common-law partner.
On July 11, 2015, the day the victim returned home, an argument broke out between her and the defendant, during which the man stabbed her in the chest. When the woman began bleeding, he did not call an ambulance immediately. He undressed his partner, washed her body, cleaned bloodstains from the floor, walls and sofa, and washed the clothing. Only several hours later, when his partner was no longer showing signs of life, did he call an ambulance.
The autopsy showed that the direct cause of the deceased woman’s death was internal bleeding into the left pleural cavity and the pericardial sac, with tamponade, caused by a 7 cm-deep stab wound to the left side of the chest. The wound pierced the heart wall (pericardial sac) and caused sudden and violent death.
Jerzy K. was charged with murder with direct intent. He was placed in temporary custody.
The above-mentioned man did not admit to committing the crime. He claimed that the woman had had the wound on her chest for several days and that other people had visited their apartment. His common-law partner allegedly said that she had fallen. However, he did not call an ambulance because she did not want him to.
The prosecutor obtained an opinion from a forensic medicine expert on whether the woman could have survived for several days with the wound found during the autopsy. The expert categorically denied this, stating that after such a blow—a punctured heart chamber—the victim could have survived for no more than several dozen minutes.
The time of death was determined to be between 10:00 and 11:00 p.m. The ambulance was notified at approximately 12:30 a.m. Traces of blood being washed from the victim’s body and household furnishings were found in the apartment. Jerzy K. faces up to life imprisonment for the murder.
Since the act constitutes a felony and first-instance jurisdiction lies with the regional court, K.’s criminal liability will be decided by the Legnica Regional Court.
Liliana Łukasiewicz, press spokesperson for the Legnica Regional Prosecutor’s Office/ii