Zdzisław Marchwicki

Zdzisław Marchwicki (18 October 1927 – 26 April 1977), known as The Zagłębie Vampire (Polish: Wampir z Zagłębia), was an alleged Polish serial killer who, together with several accomplices, was convicted of killing 14 women and attacking 7 others around the country from 1964 to 1970. For this, Marchwicki was executed in 1977, but since then his guilt has been questioned.

Early life

Zdzisław Marchwicki was born on 18 October 1927, in a dysfunctional family from Dąbrowa Górnicza. His father had married five times and had four children from his marriages. Later on, all of his siblings would aid Zdzisław in his crimes. Due to his lack of interest in studying and average intelligence, Marchwicki failed to graduate from school.

During World War II, Marchiwcki was sent to forced labour in Prudnik, Upper Silesia. According to his memoir, this is when and where his "perverted tendencies" revealed themselves. After he was caught performing a zoophilic act, he was arrested, beaten by the Gestapo, and sent to the Blechhammer concentration camp. After being released from the camp, he returned to Prudnik.

Murders

From 1964, a series of atrocious crimes took place on the territories of the Dąbrowa Basin and Upper Silesia, continuing (with short interruptions) until 1970. In total, 19 women were attacked, 14 of which were fatal. The Vampire's modus operandi consisted of stalking the chosen victim, running up and hitting them in the back of the head with a blunt object, then beating the victim until she died. In some cases, he had sexually abused the corpses, but never raped them, as no trace of his sperm was found in their bodies. Some of the women were left with exposed genitalia, with one having her pubic mound cut.