Kamil N.'s family seemed flawless. His mother, Agnieszka, was a well-liked Russian language teacher, and his father, Jerzy, worked in the internal affairs department of the border guard. Jerzy had recently been promoted, allowing the family to move into a large house in Rakowiska, a small town considered a bedroom community for the residents of Biała Podlaska. The family's life appeared calm on the surface, and no one could have predicted that their beloved son would soon murder his parents, all because of a young poet.
From a Good Student to a Ruthless Murderer: What Caused the Change in Kamil's Behavior?
Kamil attended the J. I. Kraszewski High School in Biała Podlaska. Teachers described him as a calm and good student. The school principal mentioned in the program "Uwaga!" that his behavior changed over time, and he started skipping almost all his classes. He became vulgar and ignored his teachers. The day before the murder, Kamil's parents were sent a notification that he would not be classified for his exams. It was believed that Zuzanna M. influenced the 18-year-old's behavior.
Kamil was fascinated by her and fell deeply in love. Zuzanna gave the impression of being an unusual girl, particularly due to her passions. Her first passion, nurtured since childhood, was soccer. She was a goalkeeper and achieved success in sports. Coaches even hoped that she would one day play for the Polish national team. Over time, she redirected her love towards another passion: poetry. She began writing poems and completely devoted herself to it. Initially, she published her works on social media under the pseudonym Maria Goniewicz. She even managed to publish a collection titled "33" and was invited to poetry evenings. Teachers noticed Zuzanna's talent but were concerned about her behavior. She often skipped school, smoked marijuana, and offered it to other students, sometimes even to minors. Zuzanna was raised only by her mother, who seemed indifferent to her daughter's problems and the teachers' complaints. Her mother was absorbed in her academic career and looked down on the teaching staff, ignoring all concerns about Zuzanna's behavior.
It Was Supposed to Be a Scene from "American Psycho": They Forgot That Murder in Real Life Is Different
According to the couple's testimony, they planned the murder while watching a movie. They loved action films, especially those directed by Quentin Tarantino and David Lynch, but they were particularly drawn to the movie "American Psycho" starring Christian Bale. The character of the sociopathic killer, who murdered others for entertainment, inspired the teenagers to commit a similar crime. They even bought outfits similar to those worn by the protagonist during one of the murders in the film. The victims were to be Kamil's parents. The reason seemed very trivial: Agnieszka and Jerzy were against their son's relationship with Zuzanna and forbade them from seeing each other. Zuzanna had a significant influence on Kamil, who started neglecting his studies and changed his behavior drastically. Close friends of the couple testified that Zuzanna even convinced Kamil to use drugs with her. It was no surprise that the parents wanted to protect their child from the bad influence of the girl, but this enraged the teenagers. They quickly devised a plan they believed to be foolproof.
Zuzanna posted on social media that on December 12 and 13, 2014, she would be in Krakow, where people could meet her and buy her poetry collection. This was not a lie. The girl and Kamil were driven to Krakow by their friends. Once they arrived, Kamil sent a message to his mother, ensuring that his phone would register in another city, confirming their alibi for the time of the murder. Suddenly, Zuzanna claimed she had forgotten her laptop at home and insisted they return to Rakowiska. Reluctantly, their friends agreed to make the trip back, but only after being promised payment. They drove the couple back to Kamil's parents' house. It was there that the nightmare, which the police still remember to this day, began.
They Counted to Three and Started Stabbing the Parents Blindly: Everything Was Meticulously Planned
It was late at night when Kamil and Zuzanna sneaked into the house in Rakowiska. The first thing they did was take off their shoes, and Kamil led the family dog out of the house so it wouldn't make any noise. Then they took hunting knives out of their backpacks, entered the parents' bedroom, and stood on either side of the bed—Kamil over his father and Zuzanna over his mother. They counted to three and began stabbing the unsuspecting victims. They struck blindly, mainly targeting the chest and abdomen. At one point, Kamil's mother managed to escape from the bedroom. She even ran outside, but Kamil caught up with her and slit her throat. Meanwhile, Zuzanna struggled with Jerzy, who fought for his life. The girl bit his hand to gain the upper hand. She continued stabbing him until he bled out. Then she tried to cut off his forearm so that the police wouldn't identify her by her bite marks, but she lacked the strength. Afterward, the teenagers changed their clothes and returned to the car of their unsuspecting friends, who drove them back to Krakow. Despite their meticulously planned murder, one of them made a phone call from Rakowiska, leaving a trace of the phone's registration. This proved crucial for the police, who found the bodies of Agnieszka and Jerzy N. the next morning.
It didn't take long for the police to find the perpetrators. The phone registration in the vicinity of the crime scene was crucial for the investigation. The interrogation of Zuzanna's friend, with whom the couple stayed in Krakow, also helped. The friend testified that the teenagers were in very bad shape and washed their blood-stained clothes at her place. They told her that they had been attacked by a group of hooligans at the train station the night before. This was enough for the police to arrest Kamil and Zuzanna. The couple immediately confessed to the murder. Testimonies from friends and family revealed that Kamil was under Zuzanna's strong influence, as he was deeply in love with her. Zuzanna's close ones admitted that they were afraid of her because she could manipulate anyone. During the trial, it was revealed that before Kamil, the girl had been in an intimate relationship with a teenage girl, for which she had received a suspended sentence for having sex with a minor.
The couple spent most of the time blaming each other. Zuzanna claimed that Kamil forced her to commit the crime, while Kamil admitted that he was under the influence of the girl and her dark fascinations. There were also reports that Kamil attempted suicide before the verdict was announced. Despite ultimately identifying Zuzanna as the instigator and mastermind behind the murder, both were sentenced to 25 years in prison. The sentence was upheld in the Court of Appeal, but the cassation appeal filed by Prosecutor General Zbigniew Ziobro, who sought life imprisonment, was dismissed. Such a sentence was not possible due to the young age of the perpetrators. Although they were said to have committed the crime out of love, the couple stopped communicating with each other while in prison. Kamil managed to pass his high school exams, and Zuzanna won a literary contest for inmates.
The N. family home in Rakowiska was put up for sale, but it remained unsold for a long time. Eventually, the 186-square-meter property was sold for just over 100,000 PLN, and the new owner planned to carry out a thorough renovation.
A 14-Year-Old from Chełm Murdered His Mother: He Was Fascinated by the Rakowiska Crime
Although Kamil N. and Zuzanna M. committed a horrific crime, years later, it unfortunately inspired a 14-year-old from Chełm. At the beginning of 2020, Kamil Wach fatally stabbed his mother in the neck and then beat his half-brother with a hammer. Afterward, dressed in blood-stained clothes and carrying the murder weapons, he went to a nearby cultural center. The staff called the police, who arrested the boy. It turned out that the teenager had posted many messages on social media about the Rakowiska murder before committing the crime, and he had threatened his schoolmates that he would buy a gun and reenact the Columbine High School shooting.
