Kajetan Poznanski: Man obsessed with Hannibal Lecter planned to eat his teacher after beheading her
Warning: Graphic content, readers’ discretion advised.
WARSAW, POLAND: A convicted murderer obsessed with Hannibal Lecter has filed an appeal against his life sentence after being found guilty of chopping off a teacher's head and placing her body parts in a bag. Kajetan Poznanski was imprisoned in 2021 for a crime that sent shivers through Poland. He claimed to have killed Katarzyna Jaroszynska as part of a "self-improvement plan" to the judges.
Details of the heinous murder committed by the Polish national have only recently become public after he successfully appealed his sentence for the 2016 murder. The crime perpetrated by the 27-year-old has been described as one of the worst in the history of Poland. His lawyers are now arguing that his sentence should be overturned, as per the Daily Mail.
READ MORE
Who is Kajetan Poznanski?
Poznanski, known as the "Hannibal of Zoliborz" because of the affluent Warsaw area where he resided and his obsession with the fictitious serial killer, went to Jaroszyska's house in 2016 pretending to be interested in learning Italian. Once inside, he pulled out a knife and attacked the 30-year-old in what the prosecution described as a "premeditated killing." He then called a cab to take him back to his rented flat after sawing the woman's body into pieces and packing the pieces into a bag. He is believed to have said that he was transporting a wild boar's carcass when the taxi driver asked why blood was leaking out of the luggage.
When Poznanski got home, the 27-year-old decided against eating the woman's remains and instead set the apartment on fire to destroy any traces of the crime. Firefighters discovered the teacher's remains after the fire was put out. Her head was discovered inside a backpack, as per the Daily Mail.
Who was Katarzyna Jaroszyska?
Jaroszyska intended to fly to Bologna, Italy, later that day to see her boyfriend, according to local media. The seasoned Italian language instructor, who is originally from Radom, Poland, studied art history before relocating to Warsaw to enroll in the University of Warsaw's applied linguistics program.
Why did Kajetan Poznanski commit the crime?
Poznanski said that he "had to kill someone to get rid of the belief that a human life was worth more than a pig or a fly." A talented student whose grandfather had been a well-known journalist and whose parents were an architect and a prosecutor, was working as an intern at one of the most prominent current affairs publications in Poland. He pitched several pieces about cannibalism while he was there. One was called 'Famous gourmets - between Rome and Hannibal Lecter' in which he proposed to "expose my palate to the true classics of the culinary field." Another was titled 'About Hannibal Lecter (21st century)' where he asked, "What is the moral difference between eating a chicken and eating a human? None."
In another titled 'How to be a good carnivore?' he wrote, "Lede: Hey carnivores! Shouldn't we kill our dinner at least once in our lives to be morally compatible with each other? We go to fancy shops and know nothing of the dirty work that was done before, and the vegetarians keep bringing out the heavy guns against us!" In yet another titled, 'A word on cannibalism', he wrote, "The first season of "Hannibal" came to an end, but it did not leave me without valuable reflections. Namely: what is so wrong with eating human flesh? Attention! Those who associate cannibalism only with wild tribes from Africa or other Papua are wrong. Europe has three words here! And I will justify them." After his arrest, the magazine stated, '"We did not accept any of the proposals, and the trainee moved to another department, where he wrote two unaccepted texts."
Then the man was employed at a library in Katarzyna's area. He started writing poetry while he was there about murderers he liked. In one poem, titled 'Hannibal Lecter's Feast', he wrote, "Assembling here for the feast of the Holy Muse. My feasting of slaughter!"
'He went weird'
One of his classmates, who described him as "social and intelligent," claimed that they saw a shift when he was in school. The friend told local media, "He was always carrying books and was always deep in thought. But he also came to parties. But then he went weird and started talking about being possessed."
The 27-year-old left the city after the brutal murder. He first traveled back to his hometown of Poznan, then boarded a train to Berlin before taking a flight to Bologna, Italy, where the boyfriend of his victim lived. He wanted to go to the Anatomical Theatre of the Archiginnasio, where the dissection of humans and animals once took place, according to the tour guide who took him around the Italian city. Polish police issued an international arrest warrant, and 11 days later they located him in Malta. Armed police apprehended him after discovering him "in possession of a knife and several thousand euros in cash." He struck a police officer as he was being led to a plane.
During his trial, his attorneys claimed that the straight-A student with a degree in both journalism and ancient philology had "limited sanity." Judges, however, found that the murder was "planned and calculated." Criminologists concluded that Poznaski had long been preparing for the crime and had "probably been watching his victim, getting to know her habits and interests."
Kajetan Poznanski attacked a psychologist and a guard
Poznanski made an attempt to choke the psychologist at the remand center while undergoing a pre-trial psychological evaluation. He grabbed her by the neck as she stood to leave and started choking her before a guard intervened. Poznanski then pulled a shattered piece of glass out of his pocket and struck the guard. The head of the forensic psychiatry team at the remand center designated him as a dangerous prisoner and ordered that he be "restrained by straight jacket."
"In these types of crimes, there is never a single motive," forensic psychologist Teresa Gens said at the time in reference to the teacher's slaying to the local media, adding, "Perhaps the leading motive was self-improvement, consisting in overcoming a certain taboo about deprivation of human life."
"His friends said that at some point they noticed his transformation, both physical and mental. They mentioned that there were elements of isolation and a very strong identification with the figure of Hannibal Lecter can be seen in his literary works." Gens explained, adding, "There are two options. One is that some fantasy world or idea has begun to develop that has arisen as a result of a personality disorder. The second possibility is that a psychotic process began to develop, culminating in this crime. These are two very important directions that expert psychiatrists will certainly explore. This will have a very large impact on the assessment of his sanity," per the Daily Mail.
'The victim was completely accidental'
Ultimately, psychologists found that Poznanski did not suffer from "a mental illness limiting his ability to control his behavior." Prosecutor Przemysław Nowak stated, "He was looking for a victim. He decided that it should be a stranger, that it should be a language teacher." He added, "A complete accident decided that Katarzyna J. was the victim. He found her phone number on a website with advertisements for language tutoring. The victim was completely accidental, they had never met before. They talked on the phone to arrange classes."
Criminologist Brunon Holyst reportedly stated, "He could have been obsessed with murder and wanted to transfer the crime from the ancient world to reality. He is a man with two faces. On one hand, he is educated and intelligent, on the other hand, he was obsessed with murder."
Defense challenges conviction
The judge concluded that he was in a state of sound mind when he committed the murder. His attorneys are currently challenging the conviction and requesting that it be reversed. Defence lawyer Piotr Dałkowski stated, "The defense did not agree with this verdict. We questioned it both in terms of determining the sanity and the amount of the penalty. Poznanski was in a state that precluded conscious decision-making at the time of the act." The judges will decide after reviewing the matter in May.