Karate Gang. They were supposed to kill the former Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Poland and his wife

In the 1970s and 1980s, the karate section of the Academic Sports Team at the College of Engineering in Radom was very successful, winning many medals. They trained there Dariusz S., Marcin B. and Robert S. When the political changes took place and in the early 1990s it was practically impossible to make a living from professional sport, all three devised a plan on how to earn big money quickly.

Their idea was to raid rich houses all over Poland. They were only interested in money and valuables - mostly gold jewelry, which could then be melted down into ingots. They did not want to steal works of art or antiques, because these would have to be sold through a fence, drawing unnecessary attention to themselves.

Gangsters with rules

Preparation for the robbery consisted of several days of observation, which allowed to learn the habits of the household - who goes out when, when comes back, or leaves windows or doors open. The attacks themselves, in most cases, were not violent. The perpetrators bound their victims, sometimes even placing pillows under their heads for comfort. They calmly searched the house, leaving virtually no traces of looting.

You can read the rest of the text under the video

You could say that the gangsters even had some rules. When there were children in the attacked house, one of them would take them, for example, to the garage and play with them there. If the loot was jewelry that was a family heirloom, they were willing to return it - tossing it in the mailbox. Eventually, they fled the crime scenes in the victims' cars, but then abandoned them at gas stations and called the owners to tell them where to pick up the vehicle.

Despite this, a gang of karatekas have committed crimes. In 1991, during one of the robberies, Robert S. allegedly murdered the S. couple in Gdynia. On the occasion of another robbery in Poznań, the owner of the house, hearing his wife's scream, tried to reach for the gangster's gun. There was a struggle and a shot was fired - the man died. Robert S. later explained that it was an accident - he had no intention of killing anyone.

Killing of the Jaroszewiczów

The loudest jump of the "Karateks", which was attributed to them only 26 years later, was the one on September 1, 1992, on the house of the former Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Poland, Piotr Jaroszewicz and his wife, Alicja Solska-Jaroszewicz, at Zorzy Street 19 in Warsaw's Anin. The perpetrators watched the building for at least several hours. They probably got inside through the bathroom window on the first floor, although no evidence of such a course of events has been found. They might as well have entered through the door, but investigators hadn't checked to see if anyone had tampered with the lock. Piotr Jaroszewicz was allegedly hit on the back of the head with a weapon found inside by Robert S., and then tied to a chair. His wife was tied up and locked in the bathroom. The attackers tortured the former prime minister, wanting to extort from him information about where the valuables were hidden. They searched the house for several hours - traditionally leaving no traces of looting. In the morning, Piotr Jaroszewicz most likely freed himself. Then the two perpetrators held the victim, and Robert S. was supposed to strangle her with a thong, wrapping it around the ciapaga.

According to the investigators' versions, S. then took Jaroszewicz's rifle and shot his wife in the back of the head. The gangsters fled, taking with them two pistols, 5,000. German marks, five gold coins and a lady's watch. They left, however, checkbooks and jewelry. Witnesses later testified that they saw two men and a woman leaving the Jaroszewicz house in the morning. This thread has been ignored. The version of a robbery was adopted, although it could not be ruled out that the burglars were looking for some important documents. The bodies were found around 11 p.m. by the couple's son, concerned that they were not answering his phone.

Gniew Pruszków

In 1993, during another robbery, this time in Izabelin, Robert S. reportedly unsuccessfully tried to kill the owner of the house. A year later, "Karatecy" entered the house of businessman Wiesław P. in Góra Puławska, Lublin Voivodeship. They tied him up, beat him and robbed him, causing losses of 3 billion old zlotys. They took with them a document that should give them food for thought - a loan agreement of Bogusław B., co-founder of the famous Art-B company, which used the economic oscillator to interest the same payment several times in banks and, as a result, extort money for Ireneusz Sekuła, a former deputy prime minister from the PRL. In 2000, Sekula allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself three times in the stomach, missing once. There was a lot of talk at the time about his murder for debts.

Wiesław P. was called "Wick" and turned out to be a close friend of Andrzej K. ps. "Pershing", one of the high-ranking members of the Pruszkow group and the boss of the Ożarów gang. In a few days "Pershing" and Jarosław S. (today Ł.) ps. "Masa", later the crown witness, together with several soldiers, found "Karateki". They beat them, took them to "Wick's" house, and tortured them in the basement. piercing my knees. Later, one of the members of the karate gang, Dariusz S., said that he was afraid of the "Pruszkowskis" who had guns, baseball bats and even explosives with them. After this situation, "Karatecy" had to return the amount of PLN 180,000 to the Pruszkow group. dollars, which Dariusz S. estimated in court as the equivalent of a new Mercedes.

1995 brought the last robbery on a house in Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki. Not much later, the karate gang was broken up by the police. Nine people were detained, including Dariusz S., Marcin B., Robert S. and Waldemar P. They were charged with 26 robberies and one murder (from Poznań - author's note). Two years later, the sentence was passed - "Karatek" were sentenced to imprisonment from four to 25 years. Some of them, however, had been free much earlier. So in 2007, Waldemar P., on commission, supposedly in order to recover a debt, tried to set fire to the house of a Self-Defense activist, Stanisław Łyżwiński.

Breakthrough after years

The murder of the former Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Poland Jaroszewicz and his wife remained a mystery to the investigators. In June 2017, new proceedings were initiated in the case after journalist Tomasz Sekielski, then working for Fokus TV, found the missing evidence. We are talking about the Jaroszewicz family's bloody clothes and foils with fingerprints. They were handed over to him by the son of the couple, Jan, in a box he had previously received... from the court.

Further events happened somewhat by chance. In December 2017, in Kraków, a special group appointed by the Police Commander-in-Chief detained Bogusław K., suspected of brutal kidnappings for ransom. Once his victim was a 10-year-old boy who was held for several days in a box in the woods. In another case, he allegedly kidnapped a businessman whose body was later found in a similar chest. The policemen immediately knew that someone had to help Bogusław K. A few weeks later, Dariusz S. from Radom, a former member of a karate gang, was arrested. How he was connected to this case, the prosecutor's office did not disclose.

He told the investigators not only about his role in kidnappings organized by Bogusław K., but also about the activities from the time of "Karateki". He then revealed the backstage of the attack on the Jaroszewicz house. In March 2018, allegations of participation in the crime were presented to him, Robert S. brought from the prison where he was serving a sentence for other crimes, and Marcin B. - detained on March 12 by the Central Police Investigation Bureau. They faced eight years to life imprisonment. Dariusz S. and Marcin B. pleaded guilty.

Reckoning time

After more than a year and a half of investigation, in December 2019, an indictment was filed with the court regarding the murder of the Jaroszewicz couple. Robert S. was also to be held responsible for the murder in Gdynia in 1991 and the attempted murder in Izabelin in 1993. For logistical and economic reasons, the case was transferred to Warsaw by decision of the Court of Appeal in Gdańsk. The trial started in August 2020.

Dariusz S., who helped the investigators solve the case, most likely became a small crown witness. At the hearing in April explained that during the robbery of the Jaroszewicz house, he searched the safe most of the time, but could not remember what he found there. He was only looking for valuables, not information or documents. He expected to find "some mountains of gold" there. He presented himself as a soldier of the group led by Robert S., which was also confirmed by Marcin B. Meanwhile, Robert S. defended himself against these allegations, suggesting, for example, that the place of the robbery in Izabelin in 1993 was chosen not by him, but by Dariusz S.

In June this year. last session before the summer break. The next ones started in August. At the moment, the proceedings are still ongoing, the deadlines have been set until October.

We're glad you're with us. Subscribe to the Onet newsletter to receive the most valuable content from us.