In January 1999, Katarzyna Zowada's skin from her torso was found caught in the propeller of a pusher boat on Poland's Vistula River — and it's still unclear who killed her.
Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions and/or images of violent, disturbing, or otherwise potentially distressing events.
Personal PhotoKatarzyna Zowada, a 23-year-old university student in Kraków, Poland, disappeared in November 1998.
Katarzyna Zowada, a 23-year-old university student based in Kraków, Poland, mysteriously vanished on Nov. 12, 1998. She was supposed to attend an important therapy appointment that day, so her mother became worried and quickly reported her missing. The police initially thought that Zowada had simply skipped her appointment and would turn up again soon. But she didn’t, and weeks passed without any answers.
Then, on Jan. 6, 1999, the captain of a pusher boat on the Vistula River reported that there was something stuck in his propeller and he needed help. Horrifically, that something turned out to be human skin, and it was later determined to be cut from Zowada’s torso. The skin had also been stitched together to look like a gruesome bodysuit.
The brutal crime sent shockwaves throughout Poland and beyond, as authorities tried to find Zowada’s killer. But the investigation was filled with shaky leads and dead ends, and though a suspect named Robert Janczewski was arrested in 2017, he was acquitted and released from prison in 2024.
The case remains a chilling mystery today.
Katarzyna Zowada’s Sudden Disappearance
Lestat/Wikimedia CommonsKatarzyna Zowada was studying at Jagiellonian University before she disappeared.
Born in 1975 in Poland, Katarzyna Zowada seemed to have a promising future ahead of her. Though she was often described as shy and withdrawn, she was clearly motivated in school. Zowada eventually attended Jagiellonian University in Kraków, one of Poland’s oldest and most respected schools.
Those closest to Zowada said that she was kind and sensitive, but she also struggled with depression, especially after her father died. By late 1998, she was actively seeking psychiatric help for her depression.
On Nov. 12, 1998, she was supposed to meet her mother at a clinic in Nowa Huta for a therapy appointment. But she never arrived. Alarmed, her mother reported her missing, but police told her it was too early to file a report.
For weeks, there was no sign of Zowada, and no one seemed to have any clue where she went. But then, in January 1999, a gruesome discovery shocked all those who had been searching for her.
A Horrific Discovery In The Vistula River
InstagramA piece of Katarzyna Zowada’s skin, discovered on a pusher boat in Poland’s Vistula River in January 1999.
On Jan. 6, 1999, the captain of a pusher boat on the Vistula River called for help after realizing something was stuck in his propeller. This wasn’t unusual, as tree branches sometimes floated into pusher boats in the water.
But this was no tree branch. It was eventually revealed to be human skin from a woman’s torso, stitched together to look like a bodysuit. DNA testing later confirmed that the skin had belonged to Katarzyna Zowada.
Soon afterward, another gruesome discovery surfaced from the river: Zowada’s right leg. Though authorities conducted a search of the surrounding water, the rest of Zowada’s body was never found.
As experts pieced together the evidence they did have, they initially considered that Zowada’s body had been thrown into the water, her remains eventually getting destroyed by the propeller. But the truth was far worse.
Forensic analysis showed that Zowada’s body had been methodically mutilated. Three of her limbs and her head were still missing. But it was clear that her torso had been deliberately and carefully skinned and processed into a wearable suit. Investigators realized a horrifying possibility: Whoever killed and skinned Zowada had likely worn the “bodysuit.”
What began as a missing person case quickly turned into one of Poland’s most disturbing murder investigations, with a mysterious killer who seemed eerily similar to Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs.
The Search For Katarzyna Zowada’s Killer
The investigation into Katarzyna Zowada’s murder was slowed by dubious leads that seemed to go nowhere. Her grieving loved ones couldn’t have imagined anyone wanting to kill her, especially in such a brutal manner. Since the murderer’s identity was a mystery, so was his motive.
Many experts believe he had a twisted sexual motive, but others have pointed out that most murderers with sexual motives repeat their crimes, and there has yet to be a case in Poland since then that’s similar to this one. While some think the killer died or that he found more victims elsewhere, others believe the man who skinned her did so only after finding her dead. Yet others have speculated that her killing was part of a deranged ritual.
But one thing became clear as the investigation dragged on: Zowada suffered greatly before she died. In a 2012 report on the case, expert Duarte Nuno Vieira concluded, “The 23-year-old student was beaten first, then her neck, armpits, and groin were cut with a knife, and she died from blood loss.” He added, “The victim was probably alive when she was skinned.”
It seemed like the killer wanted to inflict maximum pain on his victim.
Unsurprisingly, the brutality of the crime drew international attention, and eventually, a profile of the killer was made. It was likely a man with a sadistic need for control, some knowledge of human anatomy, and the skills to remove human skin in a precise, almost surgical fashion.
International experts, including representatives from the FBI, were called in to help crack the case, but the trail kept going cold, and it seemed like Zowada’s murder wasn’t any closer to being solved.
The Arrest Of Robert Janczewski
InstagramRobert Janczewski was arrested in connection with the murder of Katarzyna Zowada in 2017, but he was later acquitted.
Nearly two decades passed before any real progress was made in Katarzyna Zowada’s case. Then, in October 2017, Polish authorities made an unexpected arrest. A 52-year-old man named Robert Janczewski was taken into custody. He had been on investigators’ radar since 1999, but new evidence, psychological profiling, and a mysterious letter sent to the police from Janczewski’s friend finally gave police a reason to arrest him.
Janczewski seemed to fit the suspect profile that had been developed years earlier, which included a history of harassing women, the ability to beat someone with “great force,” and at least some knowledge of anatomy.
He previously worked in a lab that included the dissection of human corpses. Disturbingly, he was fired from a different job at the Kraków Institute of Zoology, after several rabbits in his care suddenly died overnight.
When police were sent a letter from Janczewski’s own friend about him — the contents of the letter are not publicly known — they felt that they had enough to move forward with him as a prime suspect. They only became more sure of this after finding blood in his apartment, and learning that Janczewski had reportedly visited Zowada’s grave on numerous occasions.
Janczewski, for his part, denied ever knowing Zowada. He and his family members insisted that he was innocent of the crime. Still, he was charged with aggravated murder with particular cruelty.
Why The Case Remains Unsolved
Police PhotoTragically, Katarzyna Zowada’s murder remains unsolved to this day.
News of Robert Janczewski’s arrest brought renewed public interest in the case. Katarzyna Zowada’s murder was already well known as one of the most gruesome crimes in the country’s modern history, but news outlets revisited the story, and online forums erupted with theories and outrage for the young woman who had suffered the unimaginable. Many were shocked that Janczewski had been a person of interest as early as 1999.
Zowada’s mother was reportedly distraught while seeing Janczewski stand before a judge, and she was fervently hoping for the chance to finally bring her daughter’s killer to justice after years of waiting.
But despite the seemingly mounting evidence, the Court of Appeal in Kraków, 2nd Criminal Division, ultimately acquitted Janczewski of Zowada’s murder in 2024. Soon after that, Janczewski was released from custody.
Tragically, many are still waiting for the day when justice is served for Zowada, her family, and a nation still seeking closure.
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