Gawenda & Gallus
Poland
Date of Alleged Crime: 1881
Johann Gawenda was convicted of the murder of his 16-year-old
stepdaughter, Katharina Sroka, also known as Katie. Katie's mother
died in 1867, leaving her two-year-old daughter an estate consisting of
three acres of fields and a cottage. Katie's father, Ignatz Sroka,
managed the estate following the death of his wife. He subsequently
married Marie Gallus. This marriage did not last long, as Ignatz was
convicted of murder and died in prison in 1875. His widow Marie then
married Johann Gawenda, who took over the administration of the estate for
the still underage Katie and at the same time pledged to provide for her
maintenance and upbringing. Gawenda neglected these obligations in a
most unscrupulous manner, as he monopolized the land and treated its owner
so badly that she had to work as a maid and also to depend on charity.
In 1881 Katie disappeared without a trace and no one in the
local village of Radgoszcz had any information about her whereabouts. This disappearance raised suspicion that Gawenda killed Katie in order to
keep her property for himself. Eventually a rumor spread that Agnes
Sroka, Katie's half-sister, had confided to another girl, Hedwig Baran, that
she had witnessed Katie's murder. After a policeman, Martin Prus,
became aware of Katie's disappearance and the rumors circulating about it,
he investigated the disappearance and determined that Gawenda and his
stepfather Franz Gallus had murdered Katie.
Policeman Prus obtained a statement from Hedwig that Agnes
said she had witnessed the murder. He also said Agnes had told him the
following story: One night Gawenda told Katie, as well as herself, and
their younger brother to go to bed early. He then sent his wife Marie
to drink in the pub. Gawenda left for a short time but came back with
Franz Gallus who brought a hoe with him.
Gawenda approached Katie's bed and struck her on the forehead
with the blunt side of the hoe, then with Gallus, he dragged Katie to the
floor and struck her there again. It was not until he convinced
himself that Katie was dead that he and Gallus covered her with a sheet
after removing her clothes. The two then carried her out of the room.
Agnes denied this testimony in court. Even if she had
affirmed it, the law prevented her from testifying at trial against her
stepfather. Nevertheless, the prosecution used Hedwig and policeman
Prus to testify as to what Agnes allegedly said. In addition, Prus and
another witness, W. Fracz, claimed that Gawenda had voluntarily confessed to
the murder. According to these witnesses, Gawenda also told them the
location under a willow tree where he had buried Katie's body. Gawenda
admitted giving a confession, but said he had only given it out of fear and
because of abuse inflicted on him by policeman Prus. No body could be
found to corroborate the confession. A bailiff also claimed that
Gawenda had confessed the crime to him in prison.
Prior to her disappearance, Katie had worked for a woman named
Setermus in Radgoszcz who made her a dress. After her disappearance,
Setermus met Agnes and was surprised to see her wearing the same dress. When she questioned Agnes about it, Agnes said she had bought the dress from
a Johann Bogacz. Setermus told her this was a lie because she
recognized the dress as her own fabric and her own sewing. Agnes
became embarrassed and failed to give an answer. The prosecution
argued that Katie, being poor, could not have had a large wardrobe, and the
fact that she failed to take the dress with her leads to the presumption
that she was killed.
Gawenda was sentenced to death, but his sentence was later
reduced to 20 years imprisonment. Gallus was convicted as an accessory
to murder and sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment. About a year
after the defendants' convictions, another man from Radgoszcz had a missing
stepdaughter and he began searching for her, as he was suspected of her
murder. In his search for his stepdaughter, he learned that an unknown
girl was living in the village of Szarwark. When he went there, he met
the very same Katie Sroka, who he knew very well as he was a relative of
Setermus. He then alerted the authorities that she was found, and
after the authorities confirmed her identity, Gawenda and Gallus were
retried and acquitted after spending 15 months in prison.
The village in which Katie was found is only seven miles from Radgoszcz.
According to Katie, she was working for an employer there and had made no
attempt to hide as she had told others of her ancestry and her family. She
had heard about a missing girl from Radgoszcz and talked with her employer
about it many times. However, neither she nor her employer suspected the
missing girl was herself, because the girl was said to have been murdered
and buried. [6/10]
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References: The Criminal Case of Johann
Gawenda and Franz Gallus for Murder, Erich's
Criminal Archive
Posted in:
Victims of the State,
Cases in Other Countries,
Murder Victims Found Alive, Son/Daughter Murder
Cases
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