Zakrzewski family
The Zakrzewski family was a family of Polish serial killers who committed eight murders in rural Poland from 1954 to 1969, including the killing of a five-member family in Rzepin Pierwszy in 1969. For the last crime, the 66-year-old father, Józef, and his 42-year-old elder son Czesław were sentenced to death and executed, while the younger, 24-year-old Adam, was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. However, Adam later hanged himself in prison.
Family
The Zakrzewski family consisted of Józef ; his wife Halina ; their two sons Czesław and Adam ; and an unnamed daughter that was not involved in the murders at all. The Zakrzewski family were wealthy, with a large farm, but Józef was noted to have constantly owed back taxes. The family was not very well liked in their village. Józef was physically abusive towards his children. Czesław was previously convicted of several instances of robbery, including with a weapon. He was very close to his father, and carried out Józef's orders out of fear. Adam was suspected of a past robbery.Lipa family murders
On the night of 2 to 3 November 1969, on the Catholic holiday of All Souls' Day, the villagers of Rzepin Pierwszy noticed a fire originating from the mayor's house. Numerous people rushed in to help, but by the time of their arrival, the house had burned down and all five people inhabitants had perished. Initially, it was considered an unfortunate accident, but an autopsy report concluded that all five victims had skull fractures inflicted with a blunt instrument, as well as cuts and stab wounds, which were later determined to have been inflicted with an axe and a hoe. It was also concluded that the killer or killers had set bundles of straw on fire in the yard to in an attempt to cover up their tracks.In the beginning, authorities considered two possible motives: robbery, as Mieczysław Lipa was known to possess approximately 20,000 złoty collected from taxes, or possibly revenge. In an order to prevent panic amongst the villagers, the police quickly narrowed down the suspect list to about 40 people, among which were Józef and Czesław Zakrzewski. The former was known for his frequent spats with the mayor for not paying his taxes and refusing to provide agricultural goods, while the latter, a petty criminal with numerous convictions for robbery and other small crimes, was known for carrying around a gun on him at all times.
Investigations and revelations
At first, no concrete evidence pointed towards the Zakrzewski family members being guilty, but investigators long considered Czesław as a prime suspect, since he had no alibi and his wife confirmed that he was not at home at the date of the murders. In February 1970, he was arrested for stealing wood from the forest and detained in prison. While he was incarcerated, an undercover Milicja Obywatelska agent was placed as his cellmate and attempted to obtain incriminating from Czesław, while the Zakrzewski household was wiretapped. In July 1970, the investigators received their breakthrough when the MO agent convinced Czesław to write a letter to Radio Free Europe, in which he admitted to the crime and claimed that it was an act of defiance against communist Poland, claiming that organization members would free him and repatriate him to the West.As a result of this development, Czesław was charged with the murders of the Lipa family, while his father and younger brother Adam were arrested as accomplices. At the interrogations, he described the killings in detail, and also admitted to three unsolved murders which he had committed with his father from the mid-1950s to the 1960:
- 1954: stabbed to death the local dentist, Jan Borowiec, who was known for pulling out teeth with pliers.
- 7 June 1954: Józef and Czesław shot and killed Starachowice native Bolesław Hartung near a forest road.
- 13 December 1957: in the early morning, the pair broke into the house of former mayor Jerzy Jan Żaczkiewicz, wrapping his head in a towel and placing a cow chain around his neck. He was then led outside to the well, where the Zakrzewskis pulled his pants down to his ankles, exposing his buttocks, then stabbed him through the nape with a bayonet. They then threw the body into the well, where it was found by his 6-year-old daughter on the next morning.
Czesław Zakrzewski fully admitted to the murders, as well as unrelated robberies, thefts and arsons. He indicated to the authorities where he had hidden a gun, bloodied clothing, a balaclava he wore while committing the murders and other incriminating evidence, and claimed that his killings were justified, as all of the victims were connected to the state apparatus, and thus were enemies in his fight against communism. It was eventually revealed that a judge from the Starachowice district court, Stanisław W., who had been introduced to Czesław and Józef as an agent of Radio Free Europe and had made them swear allegiance to a skull, had helped cover up the family's crimes. For this, he was sentenced to 4 years imprisonment. During the interrogations, all three suspects appeared to act as if they were mentally unstable, which was semi-plausible, as psychiatric evaluations determined that they all had below-average intelligence and had trouble comprehending complex emotions.