凱瑟琳自1998年11月12日起失蹤。她是一個孤獨的人，幾乎沒有朋友，在上課期間總是獨自坐著，與母親同住，她過去曾嘗試自殺。她原本約了母親去看醫生，但她沒有出現，因此母親開始擔心她的去向而報警。 （補充：她自1996年父親過世後患上抑抑鬱症，並開始看心理醫生，上述的醫生是指定期的心理治療。）

有討論指這宗謀殺案模仿了電影情節《沉默的羔羊》。警方正儘力調查案件，因為據分析員表示，這很可能只是一系列謀殺中的第一宗。事實上，下一宗謀殺案確實發生了。

5月31日下午1時左右，克拉科夫警方接到一通通電話。電話上一位老人說，他家附近的小村莊發生了一宗謀殺案，他相信他的孫子是該案的兇手。

在村莊內一幢房子里，一具屍體倒掛在地下室的天花板上。受害者是一名50歲男子，現場發現一個由他頭部和臉部的皮膚縫製成的面具，他被斬首，頭部被丟在屋外。兇手是俄羅斯移民，名叫弗拉基米爾（Wladimir W.）；受害者是他的父親維塔利（Witalij）。審訊過程中揭示了更令人震驚的細節：兇手在視力不良的祖父面前，穿著父親的臉皮和衣服整整一天，假裝是死者。兇手說他的行兇的目沿於對父親的仇恨，因為父親背叛了的妻子，把一無所有的她留在俄羅斯納爾克奇（Nalchik），並與祖父和他在波蘭展開新的生活。兇手很有可能認識凱瑟琳，因為他們同樣在波蘭克拉科夫的雅蓋隆大學（Uniwersytet Jagiellonski）修讀心理學，不過他們不同級，兇手在1992年入學，而凱瑟琳在1993年入學，一年後退學，但他拒絕承認謀殺凱瑟琳。他目前正在俄羅斯監獄服刑25年。

在克拉科夫，過去只出現過三宗受害者死後被剝皮的案件。最後一次發生在1983年，一名叫簡的普通公民謀殺了妻子和青年兒子並把他們剝皮分屍，並試圖維斯瓦河棄屍。他在完成計劃前就被捕了，並可能被送往精神病院。剛好就是凱瑟琳死亡時，兇手因健康不佳為由獲得假釋，但警方已排除他謀殺凱瑟琳的可能性。

調查顯示凱瑟琳在失蹤前兩周沒有去上學，她在一次翹課期間失蹤了，當時她應該在課後去看醫生。這些跡象顯示她可能擁有一段秘密關係。但她的朋友們只知道凱瑟琳有一位男性朋友：他是美國搖滾樂團死之華（Grateful Dead）資深粉絲，他們在一場販賣舊音樂光碟和錄音帶的活動上認識，這名男子在她被殺時有不在場證據。

至2000年，化驗結果顯示凱瑟琳的皮膚上有屬於另一人的DNA，並與案件嫌疑人和性罪犯進行了比對，可惜未有發現。

這宗案件於2012年被重新被調查，警方相信，根據她毛衣上發現的相對稀有的植物纖維，可以將可能的犯罪地點收窄。此外，案情亦披露凱瑟琳在死前遭受過虐待。

Who killed and skinned Katarzyna Zawada in 1998 in Krakow, Poland? (2016)

Some of the names have only been disclosed as initials due to Polish privacy laws.On a cold winter morning on January 7, 1999, Miroslaw M., a tugboat operator opened a hatch on the Los, a barge pusher on the Vistula, to remove what was stuck in the propeller since last evening. He expected to find a tire or a tree branch, but what he saw was something different. He wondered what the object was; of nondescript, pale color and sack-like appearance, when he felt a foul smell and noticed a human ear.

As it later turned out, what M. found were the remains of 23-year-old Religion Knowledge student, Katarzyna Zowada*. Specifically, her skin, neatly cut away at the thighs and neck, reaching only as far as the left ear, without the face and arms. Her nipples were also absent. There was an oblique seam going from under the right breast to the left shoulder. The coroner said the body had been in the water for about 2 or 3 weeks before she was found. Pieces of her sweater were also at the scene. A week later, Katarzynas leg was found near a hydroelectric dam also on the Vistula, among some floating litter and tree branches. No other remains of her have ever been found. Some of her clothes have: pieces of jeans and a flannel shirt with a square cut out.

Katarzyna had been missing since November 12, 1998. She was a loner, who had few friends, always sat alone during lectures, and lived with her mother. She had depression and, at one point in the past, had tried to commit suicide. Her mother became worried when she didnt show up to a doctors appointment to which they were going to go together.It was discussed that it was a copycat murder based on "Silence of the Lambs". The police were doing their best, since the profilers stated there was a high possibility that it was only the first in a series of murders. And indeed, the next murder happened.On May 31st, around 1 PM, the Krakow police received a phonecall. An elderly man said there was a murder at his house in a tiny village near the city and he believed his grandson was the murderer.

In the houses basement, a corpse was hanging upside down from the ceiling. The victim, a 50-year old man, had been beheaded and the skin of his head and face was found at the scene. It was sewn to form a mask. The head was found outside the house. The murderer was a Russian immigrant, Wladimir W. The victim, his father Witalij. Interrogation revealed even more shocking details: Wladimir wore his fathers face and clothes for a whole day and pretended to be him in front of his grandfather, who didnt see very well. The motive, he said, was the hatred he felt towards his father after he cheated on his wife and left her with nothing in Nalchik, Russia to pursue a new life in Poland with his son and father. It is possible that Wladimir knew Kasia. They both studied Psychology on the Uniwersytet Jagiellonski, albeit they werent in the same class. He started in 1992, she did in 1993, but dropped out after a year. He did not confess to killing her. He is currently spending his 25-year sentence in a Russian jail.

In Krakow, there have only been three cases ever of someone being skinned after death. The last one happened in 1983. Jan N., a perfectly normal citizen, one day decided to murder and skin his wife and teenage son. He then tried to dispose of the bodies by tossing them into the Vistula piece by piece. He was arrested before he completed his plan and commited to a mental institution indeterminately. His poor physical health led to him being granted "parole" during the time of Katarzynas death, but the police determined he couldnt have done that for the above reason.Investigation revealed that Katarzyna skipped her classes for two weeks before the disappearance. In fact, she disappeared during one of these truancies (she was supposed to go to the doctors right after class). This points to the possibility of a secret relationship. Her friends only knew of one male friend: a fellow Grateful Dead fan whom she had met at an event where people sold each other used music CDs and casssetes. He had an alibi.In 2000, DNA belonging to another person was discovered on Kasias skin. It was compared to all the suspects and persons of interest in the case, including known sexual offenders, but to no avail.The case was reopened in 2012. Traces of relatively rare plant species were found on the sweater, which the police believe could pinpoint the location of the crime. Also, it has been revealed that Katarzyna has been tortured before death. Link

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