Judge condemns 'savage' murderer of Polish men
Brutal, savage and sadistic is how the murder of two Polish men was described by the judge who jailed their killer today.
Mr Justice Liam McKechnie imposed the mandatory life sentence on David Curran (aged 19) of Lissadel Green, Drimnagh for murdering the mechanics in their front garden.
Curran used a screwdriver to stab Pawel Kalite (aged 28) and Mariusz Szwajkos (aged 27) through their heads on February 23, 2008 outside their home on Benbulben Road, Drimnagh.
A jury of eight women and four men found him guilty of their murders on Thursday, after a three-week trial at the Central Criminal Court, where he pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to their manslaughter.
“From an incident of almost meaningless consequence in which David Curran had no part, he ended up killing, murdering these two people,” said the judge, referring to an earlier row involving Pawel Kalite and three of Curran’s friends.
The trial heard that minutes later Curran went to the victims’ home and stabbed both men within seconds.
“There was no fight. Neither of these people threw a punch. There wasn’t even a scuffle,” remarked the judge.
“There’s something profoundly sinister in what he did and how he did it. There were no blows to the arms, legs or torso and there wasn’t even an attempt to do so,” he said.
“With lethal accuracy, David Curran aimed at probably the most vulnerable part of the human body, the temple. Then by a single blow, which penetrated the skull, he caused his (Mr Kalite’s) death. There was no possibility of recovery,” he continued. “That blow wasn’t enough. He removed the screw driver and with the same lethal accuracy, aiming it at the same point and in the same way, he murdered Mariusz.”
Mr Justice McKechnie noted the pathologist’s evidence that it required great force to penetrate a person’s skull to such a depth and to remove the screw driver and repeat the process.
“It leaves a chilling and truly disturbing feeling as to what kind of person could do such a thing, brutal and savage, and one could well describe it as sadistic,” he added, before describing Curran’s behaviour after murdering the men.
“Within a few hours he set about scheming his way out of it. Phones had to be got rid of; alibis, concoctions abound. Then he tries to lay it off on Keogh,” he noted, referring to his blaming of his co-accused, Seán Keogh. He said that from that time on, Curran had done nothing but try to strategise his way out of it.
“Without pause for thought, I unhesitantly and without any reservation, wholly agreed with the verdict of the jury in relation to David Curran,” he said before jailing him for life.
The judge had already heard victim impact statements prepared by the families of the two victims. Their former employer, Alan Kennedy, read both to the court.
Mr Kalite’s parents explained that he was ill as a child but wrote of the positive energy that emanated from him, which they described as contagious.
“He was determined to do his best, and to see the best in the world,” they wrote.
Although enjoying his time in Ireland, their son’s move to Dublin was supposed to be temporary. He was planning to move home and marry his girlfriend, Marcella. Hours before he was murdered, he was on the phone making arrangements for the apartment they would share.
“All his dreams will remain unrealised, they will never have a chance to happen,” they remarked. “A stranger has decided about his future without considering him and his dear friend Mariusz, who also found himself in the same situation running to defend his best friend.”
They described their last moments in the hospital with their son, praying that he would wake up and smile at them.
“We didn't get that chance. With helplessness on our faces, we looked at him dying,” they recalled. “This tragedy has left us with deepest scars impossible to heal.”
They concluded that a stranger had blown out the candle of life, killed a good man and destroyed the lives of his parents, sister and family.
Szwajkos’s family quoted words from the poem of a Polish priest, which now resonates with them: “Let us hurry to love people, they leave us too soon”.
Their son and brother, who had a Master’s degree in mechanical engineering, was also planning to move home and was going to start his own business. They now cherish two old cars he restored from scratch.
They wrote that since his murder, they have suffered depression, are on medication for post-traumatic stress disorder, and still experience many sleepless nights, enormous levels of stress, headaches and an inability to feel any kind of joy.
His father, who visits his grave every day, said he lost his son and best friend.
During his two years in Ireland, he phoned home every day. His sister, Gosia, is now afraid to answer the phone after receiving news of his murder that way.
“I know that despite how difficult it will be, one day I will tell a story of his life to my baby,” she wrote finally. “How smiling, joyful and always willing to help a person he was. And we will always love and remember him.”
