Wrocław. A woman was murdered while visiting a prison. Her daughters are suing the state

The tragedy occurred in July 2007, when 22-year-old Maja H. visited the Prison at ul. Kleczkowska in Wrocław. Her partner, and the girls' father, Adrian P., was serving a sentence for robbery in prison. When the woman went to the toilet, the detainee followed her there and then strangled the woman. Guards were alerted by another visitor who used the same bathroom.

The officer found a bloody Adrian P. and an unconscious Maja H. on the floor. As it turned out, the man first strangled the woman and then tried to commit suicide. Medical help was called, but the woman could not be saved. A man, yes.

– This is an unprecedented event in the history of the Polish prison system, because it has never happened before that a person who went to visit a prison during a visit, under the supervision of officers and cameras, lost his life – says Paweł Matyja, a lawyer from the foundation. Proof of innocence.

Adrian P. was sentenced to 25 years in prison in the first instance, but on appeal the sentence was reduced to 15 years. The judge pointed out that “the defendant made the decision on impulse.” In their justification, the judges also stated that Adrian P. had limited sanity at the time of the act. He took the life of the person he loved out of jealousy, acting with great emotions. He expressed regret and remorse.

– Adrian P. was initially supposed to serve a sentence of 25 years in prison, but later it was reduced to 15 years for murder in passion. After serving an earlier sentence for robbery, the man began serving a sentence for murder – informs Paweł Matyja. As one of the daughters adds, her father is to be released from prison in February 2025.

The prosecutor's office discontinued the proceedings regarding the organization of the visit, and no one was subject to civil or disciplinary liability.

– It was found that nothing had happened, even though the officer, according to witness testimony, was sitting and reading a newspaper instead of observing the room with convicted people. Apparently my father was shouting loudly and arguing with my mother, but no one tried to calm him down. When my mother died, no guards or prison staff resuscitated her – only a side person – reports Klaudia Paszkowska, the 22-year-old daughter of the murdered woman, in an interview with tvn24.pl.

After this incident, the rules regarding visits between inmates and their families and friends changed in the Wrocław Prison.

– Once upon a time, inmates could use the same toilets as visitors, and this crime took place in a prison toilet, when my clients' mother was followed by her partner and killed her there. Today this is not possible, because now you cannot use the same toilets. There were more irregularities. The perpetrator of this crime took his own life, survived, but did it with a knife, so the question also arises why the knife was not taken from him when he left the cell. If it had been found on him, he would have been responsible and the visit would probably not have taken place at all, he explains.

At the time of the murder, Klaudia was 4.5 years old and Amanda was only 11 months old. When the girls grew up and reached the age of majority, they decided to demand compensation from the State Treasury.

On Wednesday, December 18, the trial for compensation began in the District Court in Wrocław.

– Today we have the first date of the hearing for the payment of PLN 7.5 million to each of the plaintiffs in connection with the death of the plaintiffs' mother, alleging failure to fulfill obligations regarding the organization of supervision in the prison where the inmate was the perpetrator and which occurred in during the visit – informs Katarzyna Tybur, judge of the District Court in Wrocław.

The subject of the proceedings is also whether and to what extent there was negligence and to what extent the defendant is responsible for this event or for failing to prevent it.

– Settlement proposals were submitted before the first hearing, but at the moment we have not reached an agreement – says a representative of the State Treasury.

Earlier, the prison service questioned the lawsuit's claims about the harm caused to the plaintiffs and its extent. “At this stage of the proceedings, the defendant also questions the intensity of the bond between the plaintiff and the deceased and the amount of compensation sought,” we read in the case files.

– I was surprised by the prison's response that they questioned the intensity of the bond between us and our mother, the extent of our wrongs and that these wrongs did not result from our mother's death. That we are not wronged people, says Klaudia. It is also alleged that the statute of limitations for the case is over, as more than 17 years have passed since the tragedy. As the deceased's daughter adds, as a child she did not know that she could demand compensation.

– My entire childhood was difficult, I have felt the effects since the age of five, when I lost my mother and until now, I have to undergo psychiatric and psychological treatment, I also have psychosomatic problems, severe memory loss caused by trauma. This case is an example of pure irregularity. My grandmother was not even reimbursed for the funeral costs or for storing the body, even though it was their fault. We, two children, a 5-year-old and an almost one-year-old, were left without our mother overnight – explains the 22-year-old.

The trial and the hearing of witnesses are scheduled to continue next Friday, December 20.