凯瑟琳自1998年11月12日起失踪。她是一个孤独的人，几乎没有朋友，在上课期间总是独自坐著，与母亲同住，她过去曾尝试自杀。她原本约了母亲去看医生，但她没有出现，因此母亲开始担心她的去向而报警。 （补充：她自1996年父亲过世后患上抑抑郁症，并开始看心理医生，上述的医生是指定期的心理治疗。）

有讨论指这宗谋杀案模仿了电影情节《沉默的羔羊》。警方正尽力调查案件，因为据分析员表示，这很可能只是一系列谋杀中的第一宗。事实上，下一宗谋杀案确实发生了。

5月31日下午1时左右，克拉科夫警方接到一通通电话。电话上一位老人说，他家附近的小村庄发生了一宗谋杀案，他相信他的孙子是该案的凶手。

在村庄内一幢房子里，一具尸体倒挂在地下室的天花板上。受害者是一名50岁男子，现场发现一个由他头部和脸部的皮肤缝制成的面具，他被斩首，头部被丢在屋外。凶手是俄罗斯移民，名叫弗拉基米尔（Wladimir W.）；受害者是他的父亲维塔利（Witalij）。审讯过程中揭示了更令人震惊的细节：凶手在视力不良的祖父面前，穿著父亲的脸皮和衣服整整一天，假装是死者。凶手说他的行凶的目沿于对父亲的仇恨，因为父亲背叛了的妻子，把一无所有的她留在俄罗斯纳尔克奇（Nalchik），并与祖父和他在波兰展开新的生活。凶手很有可能认识凯瑟琳，因为他们同样在波兰克拉科夫的雅盖隆大学（Uniwersytet Jagiellonski）修读心理学，不过他们不同级，凶手在1992年入学，而凯瑟琳在1993年入学，一年后退学，但他拒绝承认谋杀凯瑟琳。他目前正在俄罗斯监狱服刑25年。

在克拉科夫，过去只出现过三宗受害者死后被剥皮的案件。最后一次发生在1983年，一名叫简的普通公民谋杀了妻子和青年儿子并把他们剥皮分尸，并试图维斯瓦河弃尸。他在完成计划前就被捕了，并可能被送往精神病院。刚好就是凯瑟琳死亡时，凶手因健康不佳为由获得假释，但警方已排除他谋杀凯瑟琳的可能性。

调查显示凯瑟琳在失踪前两周没有去上学，她在一次翘课期间失踪了，当时她应该在课后去看医生。这些迹象显示她可能拥有一段秘密关系。但她的朋友们只知道凯瑟琳有一位男性朋友：他是美国摇滚乐团死之华（Grateful Dead）资深粉丝，他们在一场贩卖旧音乐光碟和录音带的活动上认识，这名男子在她被杀时有不在场证据。

至2000年，化验结果显示凯瑟琳的皮肤上有属于另一人的DNA，并与案件嫌疑人和性罪犯进行了比对，可惜未有发现。

这宗案件于2012年被重新被调查，警方相信，根据她毛衣上发现的相对稀有的植物纤维，可以将可能的犯罪地点收窄。此外，案情亦披露凯瑟琳在死前遭受过虐待。

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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