Life sentence for the ‘beast from Sulikow’. A court in Szczecin sentenced Dawid J. to life imprisonment for the murder of 18-year-old Magdalena M. The man had a previous conviction for rape and murder, which he committed at the age of 14. He also has robbery on his record.
The trial of the now 30-year-old Dawid J. had been going on behind closed doors of a Szczecin court since September last year. The man was accused of murdering 18-year-old Magda M.
Dawid J. heard a life sentence today
He will only be able to apply for early release after 35 years. He is to serve his prison sentence in a therapeutic system for drug and alcohol addiction.
Dawid J. is also to pay 100,000 zlotys each in compensation to three relatives of the victim.
The case was conducted in camera, so the judge presented the reasons for the verdict only to the parties to the trial, without the participation of the media.
The verdict is not final.
Magda went shopping on her scooter
24 May 2021. Dawid J., “acting with the direct intention of depriving Magdalena M. of her life”, took her to his car from a car park in Kamień Pomorski. On the way, he punched the young woman in the nose and then strangled her. According to investigators, he hid the young woman’s body in the forest under the roots of an overturned tree and covered it with leaves and tree branches.
The body of the 18-year-old was found at the end of May 2021 in a forest near her home village, about 10 km from Kamień Pomorski. David J., 28 years old at the time, had been detained by the police the day before.
The girl’s disappearance was reported by her father two days after the 18-year-old had not returned home from shopping. The girl had ridden her scooter to the shop.
The perpetrator was singled out after analysing CCTV footage and phone log-in details. As it was established, Magda had a problem starting the scooter and Dawid J. offered her a lift in the car. The girl got into the car, and the accused drove her to the forest and killed her there.
The man pleaded guilty to murder by strangulation but did not explain how he did it. Nor did he explain what his motivation was.
Dawid J. the youngest sex offender in Europe
Dawid J. had a previous criminal record for rape and murder, which he committed at the age of 14. As an adult he had a criminal record for robbery.
Dawid J. committed his first crime in 2006 in Sulików. Sylwia was supposed to return from school by bus, but she told her friends that she was going for a walk “with Dawid” – her neighbour. This was the last time she was seen.
After the girl went missing, the less than 15-year-old Dawid J. was questioned. Without blinking, he told police officers that he had seen the missing girl get into a car with a stranger.
The girl’s body was found in a makeshift grave in a rape field. DNA traces pointed to the perpetrator: David. It was established that he had assaulted the girl, beaten, raped and then strangled her with laces from her own shoes.
The teenager was then not allowed to answer as an adult and was sentenced to stay in a reformatory. He left when he turned 21 because he could no longer stay there. While serving his sentence, he got into further conflicts with the law. During his leave, he allegedly sexually abused one of his sisters. When he was 17, he escaped from a reformatory and went to Wrocław, where he assaulted and robbed a teenage girl. The catalogue of offences was supplemented by robbery.
After leaving the reformatory Dawid J. returned to his family home in Sulików. He lived next door to the family of his first victim.
Sylwia’s parents had to move out of the village. They could not bear the knowledge that their daughter’s murderer was right next door.