Man Stands Trial For Murder Of Six On Jersey

The royal court in St Helier, Jersey, has heard how a man killed six people, including his wife and their two young children, in a savage knife attack because he could not face the break-up of his marriage.

31-year-old Damian Rzeszowski is charged with the murder of his wife, the couple’s children, 5-year-old Kinga and 2-year-old Kacper, his father-in-law, and his wife’s friend and her five-year-old daughter.

Rzeszowski denies murder but has pleaded guilty to manslaughter through diminished responsibility, a plea that the prosecution has not accepted.

It is understood the couple were having problems in their marriage, stemming from Mrs Rzeszowska admitting to her husband that she had had an affair and threatening to kill herself.

In an attempt to save their marriage, the couple went to Poland to visit their families. But their problems continued.

The knife attack took place in the couple's home in St Helier on 14 August, the day of their return from Poland.

Mrs Rzeszowska and her father went for a barbecue with De La Haye and her daughter, leaving the children in Rzeszowski's care. On their return they found Rzeszowski had gone out and left the children by themselves. He reappeared around 1pm and argued with his wife.

Rzeszowski claims to not remember what happened that afternoon but the prosecution believe the attacks began around 14:25.

It is believed that Garstka was the first to be attacked.

He was found on a bed with nine stab wounds from two different knives. A lack of defensive wounds suggests he did not move and had been taken by surprise.

Kacper, who had been playing at the dining table, was stabbed 13 times with two different kitchen knives. The two girls, who had been painting, were stabbed 16 times each.

Solicitor general Howard Sharp, for the prosecution said Rzeszowski, who had been drinking whisky, attacked his wife in the flat but she ran out into a courtyard. She tried to call the police but dialled a Polish emergency services number.

Out on the street she was stabbed again in front of neighbours. Her friend, De La Haye, was also attacked and staggered out of the flat before collapsing.

Neighbours tried to intervene and Rzeszowski then started stabbing himself. He fell to the ground with a collapsed lung.

Sharp said the lapse of time between the row over leaving the children and the start of the attacks showed the spree had not been the product of a momentary loss of control.

Neighbours tried to intervene and Rzeszowski then started stabbing himself. He fell to the ground with a collapsed lung.

Sharp said: "This is the case of a man who cannot face the prospect of marriage failure and decides that if the family cannot go on as it is, it must not go on at all."

The trial continues.

(H)