Józef Cyppek (August 20, 1895 – 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]
Józef Cyppek | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 20, 1895 |
| Died | November 3, 1952 (aged 57) |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Conviction(s) | Murder |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Details | |
| Victims | 1+ |
Span of crimes | 19??–1952 |
| Country | Poland |
Youth edit
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, who he claimed was his son. Later the boy was not seen anymore.[2] He worked as a driver.[2] [3]
Physical appearances edit
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 thumbprint 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 tattooed under his arm.[5]
Murder edit
The crime took place on September 11, 1952.[3] Cyppek lured his neighbour, 20-year-old Irena Jarosz, to his apartment, then hit her on the head with a hammer and killed her.[2] Jarosz had a routine appointment with a colleague from work - Zofia S. Whenever they'd meet, Zofia S. would wait for Jarosz. This time it was different.[2] Zofia S. found the apartment open with a crying 7-month-old child inside.[2] The woman took care of the child and waited for about two hours for Jarosz. Around 18:30, the 25-year-old husband of the victim returned.[2] At home, in addition to his wife's disappearance, he noticed that several items—blankets, quilts, sheets, a suit and a watch—were missing.[3] Worried about his wife, the husband inquired with the neighbours, including Cyppek.[2] While there, he noticed Jarosz's dress, and through the window he saw his eiderdown. He reported the matter to the militia. When officers arrived, they did not find the culprit, who was at the cinema. After Cyppek returned, they stopped him and entered the apartment.[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 edit
During the investigation, Cyppek admitted to drowning Jarosz in the nearby lake Rusałka.[3] He claimed that he wanted to sleep with his neighbour, which she refused.[3] When asked why he cut up the corpse, 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. He claimed that he used the medical book 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 apparently sent children who lacked money for a ticket to Cyppek. She told the children that the gentleman who lives in the neighbouring apartment would give them the money they were missing.[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 products at the nearby bazaar.[2]
In the course of the investigation, Lake Rusałka was drained. Allegedly, up to a dozen human skulls were found in it, for the most part children's.[2]
Process edit
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 Szczecin.[1]
Years later edit
The apartment where Cyppek lived was unoccupied for a long time because nobody wanted to live there.[2] After sitting empty, it was divided into a storage room and lavatories, and part of the premises was allocated to an adjoining flat. Later a shoemaker's house was located there. A private company is now situated there.[2]
In popular culture edit
In 2012, an amateur feature film was created based on the events there called Wilson 7, directed by Szczecin student Jakub Boronia.
See also edit
References edit
- ^ a b "Search for a burial site in the Szczecin Cemeteries in Szczecin" (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). Życie po śmierci [Life after death] (in Polish). Gorzów Wlkp.: KAW. ISBN 83-85192-25-3.
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