Maciej Witkowski was a student at the Major Henryk Sucharski Vocational School Complex in Złotoryja, attending a military-oriented high school class. The 17-year-old aspired to be a soldier or policeman and was interested in martial arts. At school, he met three boys with similar interests—Marek A. and Mateusz S., who were in his class, and Michał P., who was in a parallel class.
The teenagers would meet after school at Wilcza Góra, where they held fitness training sessions. After one of these meetings, Maciek returned home with a knife, telling his mother that he had received it from Marek.
"After the last training session, both of them were excited. They whispered to each other. He didn’t want to tell me if something had happened, but he never went back to those sessions again," said Maciek's mother in an interview with "Fakt."
Shortly afterward, on January 25, 2007, Maciek disappeared. He was supposed to come home after school, but he never did. His mother reported his disappearance to the police. Many people joined the search for the teenager, but it yielded no results.
A Girl and the Mysterious "Dragon Order": What Led the Teenagers to Commit Such a Heinous Crime?
Three months later, on April 25, 2007, a retired policeman who was dealing with business matters with a forester from Jerzmanice noticed disturbed soil in the forest. The way it was arranged suggested it might be a grave. The man decided to notify the authorities. When the police began digging, they found the body of 17-year-old Maciek. It turned out that just before his death, someone had tied his hands and placed a balaclava over his head. The murderer had slit Maciek's throat.
Suspicion quickly fell on Maciek's friends. Investigators determined that the mastermind behind the murder was Michał P. Why did the 17-year-old want to get rid of his friend? The media pointed to two possible motives. The first was jealousy. Michał P. was convinced that Maciek was dating his girlfriend. It's also possible that it had to do with the "Dragon Order." According to "Gazeta Wrocławska," Michał P. had told his friends that he belonged to a secret international association of murderers, where he had achieved the highest rank—shadow warrior. Maciek had been gossiping about the order and the training sessions, which didn't sit well with Michał. He may have considered it a betrayal.
They Gave Maciek a Sandwich and Told Him It Was His Last Meal
On January 25, 2007, Maciek went to the forest with his friends, convinced they would be training. This time, he was to play the role of the victim, so he allowed them to tie his hands and cover his eyes. His friends made him kneel before a hole they had dug earlier. They also gave him a sandwich, telling him it was his last meal.
Mateusz S. stood guard while Michał P. ordered Marek A. to slit Maciek's throat. When the teenager refused, P. grabbed the knife himself, pushed the dying 17-year-old into the hole, jumped in after him, and continued stabbing him in the neck. Maciek was still alive as his friends buried him with soil.
"Shut up, you bastard! No one will say bad things about my order, and no one will ride around Złotoryja with my girlfriend!" Michał reportedly shouted.
He Killed His Friend but Has No Remorse. He Wants to "Erase That Day from His Memory"
During interrogations, Michał P., Marek A., and Mateusz S. blamed each other. Psychiatrists determined that P. was emotionally unstable, egocentric, oblivious to his own flaws, and prone to breaking rules and aggression. "He is a person who takes pleasure in tormenting and humiliating others. It gives him a sense of dominance over another person," reads the opinion cited by "Fakt."
All three of Maciek's tormentors were sentenced to 25 years in prison. The court ruled that they acted with direct intent and found no mitigating circumstances. The appeals court upheld the first-instance verdict. Maciek's killers will be eligible for early release after serving 22 years, in 2029.
"I don't think I need to change anything about myself at all. I don't think I've ever done anything wrong in my life. I just want to forget about it, erase it from my memory. Everything, if you really want to, can be erased from your memory," Michał P. said in an interview with a reporter from the program "Uwaga!".
