On February 22, 2013, the body of a 70-year-old doctor was found in a property he intended to sell. He had several stab wounds in the chest and abdomen. A similar crime pattern was seen by police six months later. This time, the victim was 63-year-old Elżbieta. Just like in the first murder, the woman had been stabbed multiple times. The killer was only apprehended in February 2014.
"99% Sure We'll Close the Deal." The Property Owner Was Gravely Mistaken
The 70-year-old doctor received a call from a man interested in buying a house in Warsaw's Sadyba district. The buyer claimed to have lived abroad for a long time, earning a substantial amount of money. He decided to return to Poland and invest his savings in real estate. This news pleased the retired doctor, who had unsuccessfully tried to sell the house for several years.
"99% sure we'll close the deal this time. He’ll come with an interior decorator who will furnish the apartment for him," he reportedly told his wife as he prepared for a meeting with the mysterious client, as reported by "Wprost."
The men were supposed to meet at the property on February 22, 2013, at 6:00 PM. The doctor's wife became worried about his prolonged absence and a strange phone call she received. She asked her daughter to go to the house and check if everything was okay. She arrived around 8:00 PM to find her father dead in the basement, with a bloody knife beside him. She immediately alerted the authorities.
They Secured Phone Records, Recorded the Perpetrator's Voice. Still, They Didn’t Know Who He Was
The autopsy revealed that the man was first attacked with pepper spray before the killer furiously stabbed him. The cause of death was blood loss. DNA was found on the knife left at the scene, but it wasn't in the police database. Investigators began searching for a motive, but with no success. Nothing was stolen from the apartment, ruling out robbery. The quiet elderly man had no enemies or debts.
Investigators secured the victim's phone records. Among the calls, they found the number of the person with whom the doctor had arranged to meet about selling the house. The police tracked a few minutes of activity from the number two days after the murder, but nothing was established. The suspect’s phone was logged again four days later, and this time, the investigators managed to record the potential killer's voice. After this, the phone went silent again.
The police still had no idea who could have murdered the doctor. For the next six months, no additional clues or leads emerged that could point to the killer. Until...
The Austrian Company Representative Impressed Elżbieta. He Wore Good Perfume
In August of the same year, 63-year-old Elżbieta arranged a meeting with a man interested in renting her property in Warsaw's Imielin district. He claimed to be a representative of an Austrian company. At their first meeting, the client made a good impression on her. He was elegantly dressed and wore good perfume. Elżbieta had no idea that she would not survive the next meeting.
Elżbieta went to her villa to close the deal with the businessman. Her body was not found until the evening. She lay on the living room floor with her hands and feet bound with tape. There was a visible strangulation mark on her neck and stab wounds on her chest. A bloody knife was found beside the body. The authorities were called to the scene.
The autopsy showed that Elżbieta had tried to defend herself. Under her fingernails, they found foreign skin, but as in the first murder case, the killer’s DNA was not in the police database. The woman had been strangled first, then stabbed multiple times in the chest. Investigators determined that nothing had been stolen from the house. Like the murdered doctor, the woman had no enemies.
Killing for the Thrill. They Found a Kitchen Knife in a House in Ursynów
The police immediately linked the cases. The circumstances of the crimes were almost identical, nothing was stolen from either house, the victims were elderly, and the method of killing was similar. In both cases, a knife was left at the crime scene. The investigators dubbed the perpetrator the "classifieds killer" because he found his victims through property listings. Phone records showed that the killer only contacted people selling or renting homes.
They tried to create a profile of the murderer. A police psychologist analyzing the man's behavior concluded that he committed the murders to satisfy his emotional needs. In such cases, the killer is satisfied by the feeling of taking a life. Additionally, the individual derives pleasure from playing games with the police, who struggle to identify him. He wants his deeds to gain publicity. That’s why he leaves bloody knives at the crime scene, which are, in a sense, his signature.
In February 2014, the killer's phone was activated three times. The man made a brief call to someone selling a house in Warsaw’s Ursynów district. Then he sent two text messages to Zbigniew H. and Monika B., who were related to Jerzy B. The man was H.'s cousin and B.'s father. Investigators began to focus on the suspect. A month later, they arrested him while he was waiting in a car in Ursynów. When asked what he was doing there, Jerzy replied that he planned to spend the night at his cousin Zbigniew’s house.
The police decided to enter the house where Jerzy was standing. According to "Wprost," they found a promissory note, handcuffs, a police ID cover, a container of pepper spray, a kitchen knife, tape, several pairs of rubber gloves, and a phone without a battery or SIM card. Another phone was found in the car. Investigators determined that the phones had been used to contact Elżbieta and the doctor. Jerzy B. did not admit to either of the two murders.
Indebted and Unemployed. "My Wife Came Back from Vacation and Told Me to Pack Up"
The arrested man was in his fifties. He ran his own business selling office supplies, but the business was a failure. Jerzy began investing money in the currency market, but a stock market crash wiped out his savings.
"I traded currencies online. I was doing well in 2008-2009, but then the stock market crashed, and problems began. On top of that, there was my father's debt, who was a gambler. That’s why I was living off my mother recently, but I also borrowed money from friends," Jerzy B. said, as quoted by "Angora."
According to "Fakt," the man owed his friends over 400,000 PLN, plus an additional 12,000 PLN to the tax office and nearly 100,000 PLN to the bank. He frequently changed his phone number so that creditors couldn't contact him. Financial problems weren't the only issues Jerzy faced. He also had family problems.
"A few years ago, I divorced my wife, but we hadn’t been living together for many years. The reason for our separation was a lack of harmony and understanding. One day, my wife came back from vacation and told me to pack up," Jerzy B. said, as quoted by "Angora."
However, according to his family, Jerzy was a good man. They claimed he was a calm man who took care of his daughter and her child. He had financial and marital problems, but no one suspected he could kill anyone.
He Killed for the "Adrenaline Rush." "The Extent of Evil Is Irreversible"
The man maintained his innocence, despite DNA evidence linking him to the crime scenes, as well as the voice recorded by the police. Forensic expert Dariusz Piotrowicz described Jerzy as a narcissistic individual.
"He has a reduced level of anxiety and a tendency to manipulate those around him. He lacks empathy, expects others to obey the law, but allows himself to break it. He has psychopathic tendencies and a constant strong need for emotional stimulation. He didn’t kill for robbery or material gain. He committed the most serious crimes to feel an adrenaline rush and relieve psychological tension," said the expert, as quoted by "Wprost."
The accused man continued to insist that he was innocent and the victim of investigative errors. The court did not believe his explanations or his lawyer's defense strategy. The Warsaw District Court sentenced Jerzy B. to life imprisonment for the murder of two people.
"The court did not find any mitigating circumstances in this case, and the punishment is appropriate to this finding. The extent of evil is irreversible. This case is an example of the mystery of the human psyche and how unworthy, immoral a person can behave," said Judge Paweł Dobosz, as quoted by "Super Express."
An appeal was filed against the verdict, but it was unsuccessful. The appellate court upheld the sentence. The man did not intend to give up. His lawyer filed a cassation to the Supreme Court, but it was dismissed.
