A man has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 34 years for murdering a pensioner and dismembering his body with a hacksaw.
Warning: This article contains details that some people might find distressing.
Marcin Majerkiewicz, 42, bludgeoned Stuart Everett with a hammer at the house they shared in Salford, Greater Manchester, overnight between 27 and 28 March last year.
He used a hacksaw to dismember the 67-year-old, cutting him into 27 pieces, before taking the body parts in plastic bags on bus journeys across Salford and Manchester to dump the evidence.
Image: Bodyworn video footage of Majerkiewicz’s arrest. Pic: Greater Manchester Police
Police say the Polish father-of-two had an obsession with gore and gruesome horror, as well as a tattoo of slasher-film character Jason from the horror franchise Friday the 13th.
Majerkiewicz denied responsibility for the killing but offered no evidence in his defence. His motive remains unclear.
Jurors convicted him of murder following a three-week trial at Manchester Crown Court. On Friday, he was jailed at the same court for life with a minimum term of 34 years.
Trial judge Mr Justice Cavanagh told Majerkiewicz, who was unemployed at the time of the crime, it was pre-planned murder for gain, to steal Mr Everett’s money to pay off his spiralling debts.
Image: Victim Stuart Everett. Pic: Greater Manchester Police
Majerkiewicz, who planned to flee abroad after the murder, owed £60,000 in loan debt and £14,000 on credit cards, the court heard.
Mr Justice Cavanagh said: “You acted in an almost unbelievably cold-blooded and macabre way and showed complete disrespect and contempt for your friend’s remains.
“This denied dignity to Stuart Everett even in death and greatly increased the pain suffered by Stuart Everett’s family when the murder came to light.”
Mr Everett’s family initially had no idea he was dead as Majerkiewicz had assumed use of his finances and his mobile phone, even sending text messages and a birthday card to his relatives purporting to be from Mr Everett.
The court heard that, while former civil servant Mr Everett was murdered overnight between 27 and 28 March last year, police were only alerted after his torso was found at Kersal Dale nature reserve in Salford on 4 April.
Image: A police tent in Kersal Dale nature reserve where Mr Everett’s torso was found. Pic: PA
Police scoured CCTV and found that two days before the discovery, a man entered the wooded area carrying a heavy blue bag and left shortly after without it.
His identity was unknown. But three weeks later, Majerkiewicz was spotted by an officer working on the case who drove past him by chance and noticed his resemblance to the man from the CCTV.
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2:07 Moment Salford killer is arrested
When police searched Majerkiewicz’s address, they found evidence of blood on a carpet and furniture and an attempted clean-up after the killing and dismemberment.
After discovering the torso, police launched Operation Harker, which found evidence at 15 crime scenes and human remains at five different sites.
Only a third of Mr Everett’s body has been recovered.
Mr Everett had worked for the NHS and the Department for Work and Pensions. He was known to his family as Benny.
His brother Richard Ziemacki, in a victim impact statement read to the court, said: “It’s extremely difficult to put into words how much I miss him. Seeing my brother on CCTV and listening to his voice for the last time will be moments that will live with me forever – I have no words other than absolutely horrendous.
“Every day we have sat watching in disbelief as the evidence unfolded and clearly shown the way my brother’s end had been planned and orchestrated by an incredibly devious, monstrous individual.”
