On 10 December, the Jelenia Góra court sentenced Jarosław H. from Szczyrk to life imprisonment. This was a retrial because the appellate court overturned the previous judgment of the District Court in Jelenia Góra. (The higher court ordered the trial to be conducted again and the evidence to be supplemented. The District Prosecutor’s Office in Bolesławiec challenged this decision, but the Supreme Court dismissed the complaint filed by the Bolesławiec investigators.)
The court’s ruling yesterday is not final. H. remains in pre-trial detention.
Let us recall. In January last year, we reported that the District Court in Jelenia Góra had issued a judgment sentencing Jarosław H. to life imprisonment. The District Prosecutor’s Office in Bolesławiec had accused him of committing two murders.
The murders themselves took place in early May 2017 in Łaziska. On 5 May, the body of a man was found on one of the properties. The traces secured indicated that he had been killed with a blunt-edged instrument.
Several days later, the body of a second man was found in a house in the same locality. The evidence secured indicated that he had been killed in a similar manner. This was confirmed by the opinions of a forensic pathologist, who described the mechanism by which the victims’ injuries had been inflicted.
The local resident Jarosław H.—an acquaintance of both victims—was arrested.
The perpetrator was charged with two counts of murder. The suspect did not admit to committing them. At the request of the District Prosecutor’s Office in Bolesławiec, he was placed in pre-trial detention.
A meticulous investigation was conducted; it confirmed that H. was indeed responsible for the murders. The first victim was killed during the night of 1–2 May 2017, while the second murder was committed on 5 May 2017. (Among other things, genetic material from both victims was found on clothing belonging to the suspect.)
The probable motive for the murders was the fact that both victims owed the accused small sums of money. One of them was supposed to repay him 50 zlotys.
In March 2018, the District Prosecutor’s Office in Bolesławiec filed an indictment against the man.
In its judgment of 30 January 2019, the District Court in Jelenia Góra found the accused guilty of the murders with which he had been charged and sentenced him to life imprisonment, stipulating at the same time that he would not be eligible to apply for conditional early release before serving 30 years of his sentence.
Interestingly, the man is from Szczyrk. He came to Łaziska for work.