Leszek Pękalski

This article is about the Polish serial killer Leszek Pękalski. For the Polish saxophonist, also called Leszek Pękalski, see Leszek Pękalski (musician) .

Leszek Jacek Pękalski (born February 12, 1966 in Osieki near Bytów ) is a Polish serial killer . He is suspected of having killed at least 17, possibly over 80 people between 1984 and 1992. Only one murder has been proven criminally against him.

childhood

Pękalski was conceived as a result of rape . His mother, whose life was practically destroyed by this rape in the small Polish town of Osieki , rejected him from day one. As a child, Pękalski was severely abused by both his mother and grandmother and did not experience any form of love.

At school he was considered a nerd who nobody wanted to have anything to do with. His approaches to women were invariably dismissed as ridiculous by them, especially since his neglected appearance was repulsive.

In the book Only for Chocolate , Pękalski tells about his own childhood:

"When my grandmother put my hands on the hot stove, I knew that life would not be easy ..."

Series of murders

At the age of 18, Pękalski left his hometown and between 1984 and 1992 traveled through Poland with practically no plan. He lived like a homeless man on rubbish and beggars . During this time he is said to have committed several murders. Pękalski is said to have selected the victims of his alleged acts at random: Although there are an above-average number of young girls among them, there are also men among his victims, about an eighty-seven-year-old old man or a baby only six months old.

The homicides allegedly committed by Pękalski were perpetrated with extreme cruelty. Usually the victims were beaten with blunt objects for so long that it was difficult to identify them later. Subsequently, Pękalski allegedly acted sexually on the corpses for a long time and / or masturbated over them.

process

Pękalski was convicted when the police found a box full of his victims' clothes in his shelter, which a relative had given him. Pękalski then confessed to several murders. However, the police were very sloppy with evidence and evidence, considering this case to be simple because of the defendant's willingness to confess. However, Pękalski soon found that for confessing to more murders he could buy convenience while in custody.

He constantly admitted new crimes for chocolate and pornographic magazines , revoked some of these confessions and admitted them again in return for further countermeasures. The closer his trial got, the more it got revoked until he finally denied everything.

Since practically all evidence was lost, the process threatened to fail. Eventually a murder could be proven because there was a witness here who could identify him. Pękalski was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment on December 9, 1996, preceded by treatment in psychiatry .

Number of victims

The number of homicides Pękalski confessed to during the investigation is around 80. These confessions contain information that only the killer could have. There are also “confessions” of murders that never took place or that have been proven to have been committed by other perpetrators. The number of murders attributed to him by the investigative authorities is also far higher. However, it must be taken into account that during the investigation, almost every unexplained death was imputed to Pękalski. In 17 homicides there was an urgent suspicion against Pękalski.

Pękalski is guilty of only one murder in the criminal sense, as no further homicides could be proven.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Najgroźniejsi przestępcy w historii Polski. Seryjni mordercy w Polsce. In: Dziennikbaltycki.pl. Retrieved March 26, 2019 (Polish). 

literature

• Jaques Buval: Only for chocolate. The confessions of Leszek Pekalski, probably the greatest mass murderer of our time. Das Neue Berlin, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-360-00851-0 .

Web links

• The Focus : Poland - a visit to the monster
• Pekalski on dark floor