An Aylesbury killer has been exposed as a double murderer who has been on the run for 16 years after he killed two people in Poland in the 1990s.
Sylwester Krajewski, 50, of no fixed address, killed Clive Porter, a 63-year-old grandfather and retired policeman, beside the Grand Union Canal near Aylesbury on April 26, 2021.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a 35-year minimum term on Thursday.
After the jury at Reading Crown Court found Krajewski guilty of murder on Wednesday, the court heard from prosecutor Ross Cohen that there was fingerprint and picture evidence suggesting that Krajewski had a double identity, and that he had been jailed for a double murder in Poland in 1993 before he absconded from prison in 2005.
During the trial, Krajewski had been referred to as Daniel Wisniewski - the name he had given police when he was arrested in Aylesbury. It came to light afterwards, however, that Wisniewski was a fake identity being used by Krajewski as he attempted to hide from the authorities.
Mr Cohen told the court that Krajewski is wanted in Poland and is subject to an Interpol Red Notice, meaning he is one of the world’s most wanted fugitives.
Judge Mr Justice Turner ruled that Krajewski and Wisniewski were the same person this afternoon (Thursday) after hearing evidence on Wednesday.
He said: "The fingerprint evidence was overwhelming. I am sure that Mr Krajewski and the defendant are one and the same man."
During the hearing, Mr Cohen showed the court images of the killer from when he was arrested in Poland in 1992, and compared them to his mugshot from when he was arrested in Aylesbury last year.
Although the older pictures portrayed a much younger man, Mr Cohen pointed out that in all of the images, a noticeable mole was located under the man’s left nostril.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Shearwood, who led the murder investigation into Wisniewski, took to the witness stand during the hearing and invited the court to see the similarities in the photographs.
DCI Shearwood was cross-examined by defence barrister John Waller, representing Wisniewski, who suggested that an identity could not be confirmed with certainty by comparing images.
He said: “Are you asking his Lordship (the judge) to look at these three photos and the photo of him in custody, and are you saying he should determine it is the same person in all the photos?”
In response, DCI Shearwood said: “Yes, I suggest it is the same person in all the photos, and if you look at him in the dock you will see it under his moustache.
“I think it is a subjective opinion for someone to reach by using common sense.”
The court was also shown images of fingerprints given by Krajewski in Poland in 1988 and 1992, and prints given by Wisniewski in 2021.
The prosecution produced a fingerprint expert, Janice Hatt, who has been a part of the Thames Valley Police fingerprint bureau for 40 years.
Mrs Hatt told the court that she compared the fingerprints of Krajewski from Poland in 1992 and of Wisniewski from when he was arrested in the UK last year, declaring that the prints “are a match.”
She added that after working at the fingerprint bureau for several decades, she had never matched a print incorrectly.
Praising Mrs Hatt's analysis, Mr Justice Turner said: "I find that she [Mrs Hatt] had carried out her work with meticulous detail.
"She compared the prints on every finger. Every single one was a match."
At the hearing on Wednesday, Wisniewski sat in the dock wearing a grey suit, white shirt and black bow tie. A balding man, he wore glasses and a blue face mask and was accompanied by a Polish translator at the hearing.
The defendant disrupted the hearing multiple times – during a break in proceedings he sent an email to the Judge which he had marked as “confidential” without the knowledge of his barrister, Mr Waller.
Then, before the hearing resumed on Wednesday morning, he sacked Mr Waller as his representative in what appeared to be an attempt to further delay the hearing.
Later in the proceedings, Wisniewski interrupted the evidence of Mrs Hatt, demanding for her to check his fingerprints in the courtroom. This request was not entertained.
Sylwester Krajewski will be sentenced for the murder of Clive Porter later on Thursday afternoon at Reading Crown Court.
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