The decomposing remains of three newborn babies were discovered by the police in northern Poland. They were initially following up on reports of an incestuous relationship between a father and his daughter.
Police arrested Piotr Gierasik, 54, and his 20-year-old daughter, Paulina, last Friday following the grisly discovery that has rocked the quiet village of Czerniki.
The remains were found wrapped in plastic bags in shallow graves dug at the basement of Gierasik’s home, according to media reports.
Gierasik was charged with three counts of murder, while Paulina was held for the murder of two of the three babies.
Both were also charged with incest.
The third baby was from another of Gierasik’s daughters, who managed to flee from his home, prosecutors said.
They said they suspect Gierasik might have himself murdered the third baby.
Police ran into what has been described as Gierasik’s “house of horrors” after Paulina’s co-workers at a cake shop in the neighbouring village of Stara Kiszewa suspected she was pregnant after she started wearing loose clothes. She also took three weeks off work and came back thinner, weaker and constantly tired.
“When we asked about the child, she feigned surprise and denied it,” one of her colleagues told the Super Express newspaper.
A neighbour told Fakt newspaper that Gierasik and Paulina “lived like a couple”.
“She called him Piotr, by his first name. They walked around hand in hand,” the neighbour said, adding that Gierasik shaved Paulina’s head a few months earlier “so that other boys wouldn’t look at her”.
“She looked up to him as if he were God,” the neighbour said.
One of Paulina’s co-workers was reported to have alerted social services after seeing a disturbing text message the 20-year-old sent to her father.
The Daily Mail reported that Gierasik and Paulina had probably been in an incestuous relationship for about four years.
Gierasik and his family moved to Czerniki 15 years ago. He was left to raise his children after his wife died.
One neighbour said Gierasik “made a good impression”.
“There was no sign of him drinking. He took the kids for walks or to the forest to pick mushrooms, just ordinary people. Who would have thought that such abominations existed in their home,” he said.
Police arrested Piotr Gierasik, 54, and his 20-year-old daughter, Paulina, last Friday following the grisly discovery that has rocked the quiet village of Czerniki.
The remains were found wrapped in plastic bags in shallow graves dug at the basement of Gierasik’s home, according to media reports.
Gierasik was charged with three counts of murder, while Paulina was held for the murder of two of the three babies.
Both were also charged with incest.
The third baby was from another of Gierasik’s daughters, who managed to flee from his home, prosecutors said.
They said they suspect Gierasik might have himself murdered the third baby.
Police ran into what has been described as Gierasik’s “house of horrors” after Paulina’s co-workers at a cake shop in the neighbouring village of Stara Kiszewa suspected she was pregnant after she started wearing loose clothes. She also took three weeks off work and came back thinner, weaker and constantly tired.
“When we asked about the child, she feigned surprise and denied it,” one of her colleagues told the Super Express newspaper.
A neighbour told Fakt newspaper that Gierasik and Paulina “lived like a couple”.
“She called him Piotr, by his first name. They walked around hand in hand,” the neighbour said, adding that Gierasik shaved Paulina’s head a few months earlier “so that other boys wouldn’t look at her”.
“She looked up to him as if he were God,” the neighbour said.
One of Paulina’s co-workers was reported to have alerted social services after seeing a disturbing text message the 20-year-old sent to her father.
The Daily Mail reported that Gierasik and Paulina had probably been in an incestuous relationship for about four years.
Gierasik and his family moved to Czerniki 15 years ago. He was left to raise his children after his wife died.
One neighbour said Gierasik “made a good impression”.
“There was no sign of him drinking. He took the kids for walks or to the forest to pick mushrooms, just ordinary people. Who would have thought that such abominations existed in their home,” he said.
Vile, disgusting people, dad probably had her brainwashed
