Murders are always gruesome and tragic events, no matter where or when it happens. But some
murders are worse than others, and when they go unsolved, it becomes more traumatic to
the family of the deceased.
One such case is the still-unsolved murder of Katarzyna Zowada, a Polish college student
who was maliciously murdered and skinned.
In 1998 Katarzyna was a student at Jagiellonian University, located in nearby Kraków, where
she was studying religion when she mysteriously disappeared.
She was suffering from depression after the death of her father in 1996, which prompted
her to change degree fields in college two times before landing in Religious studies.
November 12, 1998, Katarzyna never showed up to her usual appointment at the psychiatric
clinic and wasn’t heard from for the rest of the day. That evening her mother tried
reporting her as missing, but the police told her she needed to wait until 24 hours had
passed before filing a missing person report.
The next year in January, a whole human skin was discovered caught in the propeller of
a pusher tug boat called the Elk in the Vistula River by the crew - and DNA testing proved
it to belong to Katarzyna Zowada. Later that month, one of her legs was discovered in the
same river.
The skinsuit was missing the arms and face, except for a single ear that was still attached.
Katarzyna’s skin had been removed with surgical precision and prepared to be worn as a suit,
which was similar to another case in the area already.
Police first thought that a young man by the name of Vladimir W. had committed her murder
as well, after finding his father beheaded and skinned in the basement of their home,
in the same manner - his face prepared as a mask which he wore and tricked his partially
blind grandfather into thinking he was his father for an entire day.
No evidence was shown to be linked between the two cases though, despite the two beings
in the same town, and within decent proximity of each other. This young man was disturbed,
but he kept murdering his own family and not strangers.
A year later the case was formally dropped due to lack of evidence and a body, although
some investigators did spend their free time looking into credible leads whenever they
could. Despite their valiant efforts, any leads they found always led to nothing.
In 2012 the case was handed over to an X-files team, who specialized in solving cold cases
Katarzyna’s body was exhumed and a new autopsy was performed.
Thanks to advancements in forensic technology, they were able to do numerous tests and follow
up on leads that were deemed dead-ends- where they finally got some new evidence to follow.
After having the leg examined by professor Duarte Nuno Vieira, a Portuguese specialist
in forensics and UN expert in the field of signs of torture on the human body - he confirmed
that Katarzyna was tortured before being killed and that a unique style of martial arts was
possibly used against her.
3D scans also concurred with Professor Vieira’s findings, revealing painful and lethal incisions
on her groin, neck, and chest. As if being kidnapped wasn’t bad enough, the poor girl
was also tortured to death, and possibly even skinned alive.
The style of martial arts was never disclosed, keeping it as vital evidence in the case.
We’ve all seen one version or another of the Karate Kid, and the commercial ads for
the Netflix series Cobra Kai based on the original movies, plus the UFC and Bellator
Fighting competitions. It’s no surprise that martial arts were used as a torture method,
as it can be a brutal method of inflicting pain on another person.
The main suspect of the case was Robert J, who had been a person of interest back in
1999, but nothing more had been done back then.
He is easily qualified to have been Katarzyna’s murderer, given his knowledge, relationship
with the victim, and previous employers, not to mention his training in the same form of
martial arts... He was a creepy guy for sure.
He worked for a dissecting lab that specifically dealt with human corpses, so he had the know-how
on bodily dismemberment right there.
He also worked for the Cracow Institute of Zoology that specialized in animal skin processing,
to which he was terminated after he killed all of the rabbits in the unit - which he
claims he had no idea why he did it at all.
Was it a true “blackout” moment, or just a facade to keep from getting incriminated?
In 2017 he was arrested and his shower frame and bathtub were taken in for further testing
after traces of human blood were found. Letters, and eyewitnesses showed he knew Katarzyna.
He fit the psychological profile to a T. He was seen visiting her grave numerous times,
was known for harassment towards women, knew the victim, and knew the particular martial
arts style used to torture her.
His arrest was due to a letter from a friend of his to the police, but the letter has been
kept in secret and under tight security.
He was charged with Aggravated Murder of particular cruelty and is still in prison as the investigation
continues to this day.
Despite the mounting evidence against him, he claims to not know who Katarzyna Zowada
is. If he didn’t know her, then why was he visiting her grave specifically? Most people
don’t visit the graves of someone they didn’t know existed, let alone visit it multiple
times
The exception to that would be war veterans who died in service or as a way to be respectful
to the men and women who defended our homes during times of crisis and suffering on national
holidays.
He is still in prison to this day, as further investigations are underway and more evidence
is being gathered, two decades later.
Any remains of her body have still not been found, only the skin from her corpse and one
of her legs retrieved from the river, as well as pieces of clothing. Katarzyna’s murder
is still technically unsolved, but headway is reportedly being made in the case even
to this day.
Katarzyna’s murder is described as the most gruesome in Polish history, given the circumstances
in which she endured during her torture and death. It’s a wonder it didn’t reach the
ears of the US until 2012 when the investigation was formally reopened.
We can all only hope that her mother is given peace with the closing of her daughter’s
case as it is finally solved.
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