Polish builder 'killed six over marriage break-up'

Tuesday 14 August 2012

A POLISH man killed six people, including his wife and two young children, in a brutal knife attack because he could not face the break-up of his marriage, a court has heard.

ACCUSED: Damian Rzeszowski faces six charges of murder. VICTIMS: Kacper and Kinga Rzeszowski, top, Julia De La Haye, pictured far left with Kinga, Izabela Rzeszowska, above, and her father Marek Garstka, were all killed along with Julia's mother, Marta. DEATH CHARGES: Damian Rzeszowski is accused of murdering his children, Kacper and Kinga, his wife Izabela, her father Marek Garstka, and her friend Marta De La Haye and Marta's daughter Julia.

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Alex Diaz

Builder Damian Rzeszowski, 31, is accused of murdering his wife Izabela Rzeszowska, 30, along with their daughter Kinga, five, and two-year-old son Kacper, in St Helier, Jersey, after she admitted to an affair.

He is also accused of murdering his wife's father Marek Garstka, 56, her friend Marta De La Haye, 34, and Mrs De La Haye's five-year-old daughter Julia.

Rzeszowski pled guilty to manslaughter through diminished responsibility in April, but his pleas were not accepted by the Crown, which argued the defendant was not suffering an "abnormality of the mind".The Royal Court in St Helier heard he started going out drinking and had a one-night stand, before taking an overdose of pills on July 19, after learning of his wife's two-month affair with another man.Jersey's Solicitor General, Howard Sharp, prosecuting, said Rzeszowski's personality change was down to his marriage being under great strain. Despite travelling to Poland to see their respective families, Rzeszowski visited a prostitute there.Mr Sharp added: "The state of their marriage was a determining factor in the defendant's behaviour. He could not face the prospect of a failed marriage."Returning to Jersey on August 14, Mrs Rzeszowska and her father left their flat in St Helier to fetch Mrs De La Haye and her daughter for a barbecue. But on their return, the court heard Rzeszowski had gone out and left the children by themselves."When he got back, Marta and her daughter had arrived," Mr Sharp said. "His wife remonstrated with him about leaving two young children on their own, and from this point on he says he had an apparent blackout."Mr Sharp said the argument probably happened at 1pm or shortly thereafter and the killings took place around an hour-and-a- half later. Emergency calls were made and residents saw Rzeszowski – who is now in Broadmoor psychiatric hospital – on the street with a knife.This lapse in time, Mr Sharp said, showed the attacks had not been the product of a momentary loss of control. He added: "It's one thing for the defendant to say he lost his temper in the heat of the moment, it is quite another to say he had an hour-and-threequarters to think about it."Mr Sharp said Mr Garstka, who had been lying on his bed in the flat watching Polish television, was the first of the six victims to be stabbed nine times with two different knives at separate times. In the living room, Mrs Rzeszowska had been supervising the children as they painted. Kacper was sitting on a dining table chair and probably playing with a toy car when he was stabbed a total of 13 times on two separate occasions with two different knives.His older sister, Kinga, received 16 wounds in total and ended up on the floor of the lounge, not far from her brother. Kinga's friend, Julia De La Haye, was also stabbed 16 times, suffering seven wounds to her chest and nine to her back.Mr Sharp said Rzeszowski attacked his wife in the flat, but she was able to escape into a courtyard. She then climbed in through the bathroom window and dialled 997 – the Polish emergency number – using her father's mobile phone.Mrs De La Haye, was also trying to leave the flat when she was stabbed. Mrs Rzeszowska was chased by her husband into the street and stabbed again in full view of local residents. Neighbours tried to intervene and Rzeszowski started stabbing himself. The trial continues.

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Polish builder 'killed six over marriage break-up'

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