The incident occurred on the afternoon of 15 February 2019 in Szklarska Poręba. Passers-by noticed a fire in a building that had formerly been a guesthouse. After firefighting operations ended, the bodies of four people were found in a room on the third floor. (The victims were two women and two men aged between 55 and 65.)
Prosecutor Tomasz Czułowski, spokesperson for the District Prosecutor’s Office in Jelenia Góra:
An investigation conducted by the District Prosecutor’s Office in Jelenia Góra and the Municipal Police Headquarters established that, from the early morning hours that day, five acquaintances had been in one of the building’s rooms, consuming large amounts of alcohol.
In the afternoon, one of those attending the gathering left the room, then locked the door, deliberately blocking the entrance from the corridor with an armchair, which he subsequently set on fire. The fire quickly spread through the building, and as a result the four people remaining in the room died.
A number of people were questioned in the case, an inspection of the scene was conducted, and a procedural experiment was carried out. Expert opinions were obtained in the fields of fire science, biology and forensic medicine.
All of this led to the determination that Jacek B. was responsible for starting the fire. He was charged with the murder of four people and causing a fire.
The suspect did not plead guilty. At the investigators’ request, the 62-year-old man, who had no permanent address, was placed in temporary custody.
B. had previously been convicted. He faces at least 12 years in prison and possibly life imprisonment.