Józef Cyppek
Józef Cyppek | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | November 3, 1952 | (aged 57)
Cause of death | Execution |
Conviction(s) | Murder |
Criminal penalty | Death |
Details | |
Victims | 1+ |
Span of crimes | 19??–1952 |
Country | Poland |
Józef Cyppek (born August 20, 1895 in Opole - November 3, 1952)[1][2][3] was a Polish murderer and suspected serial killer, called the "Butcher of Niebuszewo". He was sentenced to death and executed for the murder of Irena Jarosz, but it is suspected he committed other crimes.[3]
Youth
Józef Cyppek was born in Opole in 1895. He was a locksmith by profession. Since the outbreak of the First World War he worked as a locksmith on the railroad. In 1915 he was appointed to the army, losing his leg during military service. He spent two years in hospitals. At the time he became a member of the German Communist Party. He used a prosthetic leg.
He came to Szczecin in 1952. First he lived at Wawrzyniak Street, later he was resettled to the building in Wilsona 7 (today Niemierzyńska 7). He had a flat on the ground floor. Initially, for a few days he lived with a young blond, whom he claimed was his son. Later the boy was not seen anymore.[2] He worked as a driver.[2] [3]
Description
Józef Cyppek was rather short, 158 cm tall.[2] He was, however, stocky and with a good build.[3][2] He had large hands, as evidenced by the thumprint in the police files.[3][4]
Cyppek's origin was unclear even after his death. He spoke excellent German, while in prison records it was written that his citizenship and nationality were Polish.[3][2] It is also worth noting that Cyppek allegedly had a swastika tattoed under his arm.[5]
Murder
The crime took place on September 11, 1952.[3] Cyppek lured his neighbour, 20-year-old Irena Jarosz, to his apartament, then hit her on the head with a hammer and killed her.[2] Jarosz always had an appointment with a colleague from work - Zofia S. Whenever they'd meet, she waited for her. This time it was different.[2] Zofia S. found an open apartament with a crying 7-month-old child inside.[2] The woman took care of the child and waited for about two hours for Irena. Around 18:30, the 25-year-old husband of the victim returned.[2] At home, besides his wife, blankets, quilts, sheets, a suit and a watch were missing.[3] Worried about his wife, the husband inquired the neighbours, including Cyppek.[2] There, he noticed Irena's dress, and through the window he saw his eiderdown. He reported the matter to the militia. Officers on arrival did not find the culprit, who was at the cinema. After Cyppek returned, they stopped him and entered the apartament.[2]
Irena's corpse lay in the room on the couch, her head cut off, her arms, legs, and outstretched guts. Hands and one thigh at the closet. Guts - in a bucket under the window. In the kitchen on the sink, chairs and doors, red spots - the part ineptly scrubbed. On the shelf by the tiled kitchen, the bowl is half filled with red liquid. Next to the meat grinder with grinding marks. Human heart and liver on plates. On the table in a pan, scrambled eggs with some fat. Next to the bread with lard, tomato salad and a piece of raw meat, probably beef. The apartment was full of bottles of beer and vodka.
— Police note
No head - it is not known what was the immediate cause of death.
— Note from doctor performing the autopsy
The method of quartering the corpses - one-off cuts, without repetition, equally in the joints and the extraction of internal organs testify to the professionalism of the perpetrator, the skillful technique.
— Note from second doctor
Investigation
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/76/Szczecin%2C_Niemierzy%C5%84ska_7.jpg/220px-Szczecin%2C_Niemierzy%C5%84ska_7.jpg)
During the investigation, Cyppek admitted to drowning her in the nearby lake Rusałka.[3] He claimed that he wanted to sleep with his neighbour, to which she refused.[3] When asked why he cut up the course, he answered that he wanted to take it away in pieces.[3] During the investigation of his apartment, militiamen found clothes not belonging to Jarosz, including women's shoes, panties and children's clothes.[3] Cyppek also had a medical book in German. In the matter of the book, he claimed that he used it privately to study. There is no information on children's clothes in sources.
During the investigation, other facts also surfaced. The cashier of the cinema opposite saw him "reprimanding" children who lacked money for a ticket. He told them that he would give them the missing part of the money.[2] Cyppek allegedly killed the children, and dismembered their corpses in an abandoned warehouse, later the Higher School of Agriculture (now the West Pomeranian University of Technology).[3][2] He also allegedly processed bodies for edible products there. It is not clear what exactly happened, but it is known that he sold his own production at the nearby bazaar.[2]
In the course of the investigation, water from Lake Rusałka was released. Allegedly, from a few to dozen human skulls were found in it, for the most part children's.[2]
Process
The process - in an ad hoc mode - lasted only a few days. For the murder of Irena Jarosz, on September 17, 1952, Cyppek was sentenced to death.[3] He asked the Polish President Bolesław Bierut for a pardon, which he did not receive.[3] Cyppek was executed on November 3, 1952 at 17:45.[3] He was buried in secret at the Central Cemetery of Szczezin.[1]
Years later
The apartament where Cyppek lived was for a long time unoccupied because nobody wanted to live there.[2] The restaurant at first became empty, then a storage room and a place for toilets were made there. Part of the premises was allocated to an adjoining flat, then a shoemaker's house was located there. A private company is now situated there.[2]
In popular culture
In 2012, an amateur feature film was created on the canvas of the events there called Wilson 7, directed by Szczezin student Jakub Boronia.
References
- ^ a b "Search for a burial site in the Szczezin Cemeteries in Szczezin" (in Polish). cmentarze.szczecin.pl. Retrieved 23 December 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "The butcher of Niebuszewo – Józef Cyppek" (in Polish). Retrieved 28 April 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p "The secret of the butcher from Niebuszewo" (in Polish). Retrieved 28 April 2013.
Based on an article by Monika Adamowska (GW), the article also appeared in "From the archive of Sz. A trace of Szczecin's extraordinary 20th century history"
- ^ State Archives and the Archives of the District Court in Szczecin.
- ^ Leszek Szuman (1983). Life after death (in Polish). Gorzów Wlkp.: KAW. ISBN 8385192253.
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