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Maria Gałuszkowa, a 50-year-old trader from Krakow, ailing and traumatized by the war, thought that she had grabbed God by the legs when a 23-year-old medical student became interested in her. Stanisław Wójcik adored and cared for a partially paralyzed woman. However, once she found out about his secret, he did nothing to silence her.
- 50-year-old Krakow market staller Maria Gałuszkowa fell in love with 23-year-old Stanisław Wójcik. The man, pretending to be a medical student and a doctor, preyed on her feelings and borrowed large amounts of money from her
- Wójcik knew medical students and lecturers. He even got his own stamp and “practiced” in the countryside. When the paralyzed woman lost her job, she asked for her money back. The man suddenly avoided her and made excuses
- Gałuszkowa discovered Wójcik’s secret. She was killed and dismembered in his apartment. Her separated body was sent by train to Gdynia and Wrocław
- During the trial, Wójcik did not plead guilty. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. Later, his sentence was commuted to 25 years in prison. He left the prison in 1978 and died two years later
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The parcel the smell gave away
The cleaner reached for a broom and with a neat movement she swept the dust from under the seat in one of the carriages of the Gdynia-Krakow train. She was speechless as a human leg rolled out from under the seat. A few days later, another macabre discovery was made at the Wrocław train station. After the railway station staff opened an unanswered but already smelly railway shipment, it turned out that it contained chopped up human corpses. Everything was tied with rags and wrapped in a flowery dress. It was August 1955.
Due to the state of decomposition of the corpse, it was impossible to identify who the discovered body parts belonged to. Therefore, fingerprints were taken from them and compared with the entries in the central police record. The result was unequivocal — the body belonged to 50-year-old Maria Gałuszko from Krakow.
You can find the rest of the article under the video.
He pretended to be a student and a doctor
In 1947, 23-year-old Stanisław Wójcik was getting ready to study medicine. His parents were bursting with pride when the man came to his family home near Dąbrowa Tarnowska (Lesser Poland Voivodeship) and announced that he had entered the Faculty of Medicine at the Jagiellonian University. There was nothing true to it. However, it did not stop him in purchasing a medical gown, student hat and attending selected lectures and exercises. He told everyone that he was a medical student.
Medical studies — number of applicants
Both in the 50s and nowadays, medical studies are considered a prestigious field of study, for which there are always many applicants. Last year alone, more than 9039 candidates applied for 1342 vacancies in the field of medicine and 25 places in the field of medicine and dentistry. people from all over the country.
He strengthened his legend by making friends with his student brothers and lecturers. Unsuspecting friends succumbed to this illusion and began to come for advice themselves. Cheerful, he bought the necessary stamps and thus began his “apprenticeship” in his native village. Patients paid the self-proclaimed medic with eggs, meat, butter and money. Interesting that The Krakow medical community also believed Wójcik’s lie, which opened the door to the academic gynecology clinic for him.
Even during his “studies”, Wójcik met a much older hawker — childless and divorced Maria Gałuszkowa. Shortly after the war, the woman moved from one of the villages of Subcarpathia to Kraków, when she was unable to work on the farm due to the paralysis of her right arm and leg.
Limb paresis — causes
Limb paresis, commonly referred to as paralysis, is the effect of damage to the nervous system within the so-called the motor pathway that leads nerve impulses from the cortex of the brain to the muscles. Depending on the location of the damage, the paresis may have a different extent and characteristics.
The man often visited her stall and asked about her health or helped with heavy packages. The merchant was doing well. As the portal krakow.pl reminds us, despite her rather inconspicuous appearance, the lady was a genuine businesswoman. It traded not only in foreign cigarettes, coming from parcels sent behind the Iron Curtain, but also in other goods, flawlessly taking advantage of “periodical shortages on the market”.
Most likely, the woman thought that as soon as Wójcik finishes her studies, she will bond with him. She will become a doctor, and the young husband will cure her of all ailments.
The “student” manipulated the woman very skillfully, playing on her feelings. He brought medicines, regularly examined him, took him home by the hand or drove him in a horse-drawn carriage.
It was all a hoax aimed at gaining specific benefits. Stanisław was increasingly borrowing money from the 50-year-old — for studies, for office equipment. There was always an excuse, and she was gullibly giving. No witnesses or receipts. With time, Wójcik admitted that he had a wife and two children, but he wanted to divorce her and continued to delude the sick woman.
This idyll could go on for a long time, had it not been for a sudden twist. Gałuszkowa overnight the license for trading was withdrawn. As a result, the woman was left without work and savings. Therefore, she asked Wójcik for a refund. When the man was reluctant to dispose of her, she turned to attorney Horowski, who regularly bought newspapers from a merchant. It turned out that Wójcik is a trickster, and the whole story is based on a lie. The woman decided to sue the “doctor”.
Departure to the sanatorium and treatment
Wójcik’s last trick was based on the lie that arranged for the woman to stay in a sanatoriumjust needs to meet him again to arrange the paperwork and do some research. The man also said that he would do her last injection himself (the woman was undergoing a 10-dose vitamin B treatment). However, instead of giving her medicine, he injected poison.
Vitamin B — application
Vitamins from the “B” group are one of the key compounds that determine the proper functioning of the human body. They regulate the functioning of, among others nervous, muscular and vascular systems. They also affect metabolism and well-being.
A peculiar epilogue of the drama was played out in the apartment. As recorded in the autopsy report, the body of the deceased was dismembered by a saw or a cleaver in an incompetent manner. And why the neighbors did not react to the noise? The forensic experiment showed that the sound of falling body parts was similar to the noise of furniture being moved and knocked over.
autopsy — when is it done?
An autopsy is usually performed by a pathologist or a forensic physician. Polish law provides for three cases where an autopsy is compulsory, and these are:
- suspicion that the death resulted from a crime;
- problems with unambiguous determination of the cause of death;
- suspicion or suspicion that he suffered from an infection or an infectious disease;
Life imprisonment converted to 20 years in prison
The circumstantial trial before the Krakow court lasted from October 23 to November 12, 1958. The bench sentenced Wójcik, who did not plead guilty, to life imprisonment. Ultimately, his sentence was changed into a long-term imprisonment. He left the penitentiary institution in 1978 and until his death in 1980 he looked after his own ailing mother.
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