The Prosecutor’s Office in the coastal city of Gdansk has decided to exhume the body of Krzysztof Olewnik in a murder case dating back to 2003 that gets stranger by the day. 

The exhumation was requested by Olewnik’s family, who has doubts whether the body that was found in 2006 indeed belonged to Krzysztof. “We need to be sure that we light a candle on our son’s grave,” said Wlodzimierz Olewnik, Krzysztof’s father.   

“The fact that the Prosecutor’s Office decided to exhume Olewnik’s body does not mean that it questions its identity. The decision was taken because of irregularities during the identification of the body occurred,” said Zbigniew Niemczyk from the Prosecutor’s Office.  

However, investigative journalist Robert Socha claims that if the Prosecutor’s Office decides to exhume a body, which happens very rarely, it means it has serious doubts about its identity. In his opinion, the Prosecutor’s Office in Gdansk questions the findings of the Prosecutor’s Office in Olsztyn, which used to work on the case but was pushed aside because of a series of mistakes and negligence. 

There are at least three reasons why Krzysztof Olewnik’s body should be exhumed. First of all, one of Olewnik’s DNA samples does not match the victim’s genetic code. Secondly, Olewnik’s family did not have a chance to identify Krzysztof’s body because it was not presented to them. Thirdly, the opinion that the remains belong to Krzysztof Olewnik was given without autopsy and was based solely on Olewnik’s murderer’s statement, who indicated the burial place.  

Investigators estimate that there is 50-percent chance that the body which was buried in Plock belongs to Krzysztof Olewnik, 45-percent chance that it belongs to someone else and 5-percent chance that Olewnik is still alive.  

Today, the investigative commission on Krzysztof Olewnik’s abduction and death will discuss the exhumation of Olewnik’s body with the Prosecutor’s Office.  

Olewnik’s abduction and murder

Krzysztof Olewnik was abducted in October 2001 and ransom was demanded for his release. In July 2003, the abductors were given 300,000 euro but Krzysztof Olewnik was still not freed. His body was later found and the post mortem concluded that he was tortured and brutally murdered a month after the kidnappers received the money.

Last December, the home of the lawyer for three police officers accused of negligence in the investigation of Olewnik’s kidnap and murder had her home broken into and evidence stolen pertaining to the case.

Three men convicted in Olewnik’s case later committed suicide in prison. A parliamentary commission investigating the abduction and murder of Krzysztof Olewnik is now underway.

In September 2009, Krzysztof’s father, Wlodzimierz Olewnik repeated accusations that blame for his son’s death lay with state authorities and accused police and politicians of a cover u

“The murderers of Krzysztof were sentenced but they did not act alone. For several years, those who ordered to kill Krzysztof have been protected by the state. It is out duty to reveal who they are,” said Wlodzimierz Olewnik, testifying in front of the parliamentary investigative commission on Olewnik’s abduction and murder. (mg/pg)