At the end of 2000, the body of a Wrocław entrepreneur was fished out of the Odra River. His identity was established and it was confirmed that he had been beaten before his death. However, the case was stuck for several years. Until 2004, when the police took a closer look at his phone. A new owner was found and he bought it on one of the auction sites. The officers then turned their attention to the seller. They entered his nickname into a search engine and found the blog, and from there to the novel “Amok” published by him. She became the most important “evidence” in the case. A case in which the murderer was convicted based on circumstantial evidence. And a case that even Hollywood became interested in.
From the phone through the auction to the book. “Amok” led the police on the trail
The seller of the phone turned out to be Krystian Bala. He studied philosophy at the University of Wrocław. He had ambitious plans, he wanted to write a PhD, then he founded a cleaning company and an advertising agency. It didn’t work out, so he focused on his literary passion. He started a blog where he published subsequent fragments of the novel. “Amok” was released in 2003 as . The main character, Chris, is a young intellectual who talks in detail about his erotic experiences and alcoholic libations, and everything is enriched with pseudo-philosophical arguments of the hero-author. The publisher hoped that the controversial book would sell very well. A year later, the police reached for her. And they read:
I tightened the noose with all my might. Holding Mary in check with one hand, I stabbed her above her left breast with the other. (…) Behind the seven forests, behind the seven mountains, I abandon the rope that was cut from Mary’s neck. I am selling a Japanese knife at an online auction.
The crime from “Amok”. The policemen patiently collected evidence. They found a lot of them
The police became suspicious. However, there was a problem – Krystian Bala was abroad. So the officers began to patiently collect other evidence and wait for his return. When he finally returned in September 2005, he was arrested. Plea? Planning, ordering and directing the murder of Dariusz J. Reason? Jealousy. Krystian Bala allegedly heard from his accountant that his estranged wife was cheating on him. Fights and threats began. Drunk Bala, in his fury, broke down the door, threatened her, beat her and shouted that he had hired a private detective and already knew everything.
On the day of his disappearance, Dariusz J. received a phone call from a client. After 4 p.m., he left the office accompanied by two men whose identities could not be established. He took company gadgets with him and got into a car belonging to the clients. A month later, his body was fished out of the Oder River. The bodies were noticed by fishermen. The body was beaten, numerous injuries were found, but the cause of death was drowning.
The deceased’s hands were tied behind his back, with a rope tied multiple times around his wrists. The second part of the rope was tied around the neck – twice with a knot on the right side of the neck and a loop. The rope between the wrists had a double connection with a transverse loop and was broken at a length of 46 cm.
Although a mysterious crime appears in the novel, it was not Dariusz J. As the experts emphasized, only minor details are repeated, such as the motive for tying up the body, “elements of planning the murder, spending some time with the victim before he was killed, preparing a rope noose and committing murder by strangling the victim, selling items related to the act at an online auction.
Did he kill him out of jealousy? “I already took care of one of them. With a string.”
The police determined that in November 2000, Bala called Dariusz J. from a telephone booth, with whom his ex-wife had met in one of the clubs in Wrocław, under the pretext of talking about advertising billboards. The telephone card from which he called Dariusz J. became the second piece of evidence in the case. Bala allegedly abused Dariusz J., beat him severely, and then tied him up and threw him into the Oder. Afterwards, he went on a journey around the world. He visited the USA, Japan and Korea. The police checked that someone from these countries visited the website of the “997” program, where information about the missing Dariusz J was posted. This is another piece of evidence. A pen with the logo of Dariusz J.’s company was also found in Bali’s house. There was more such evidence, but the court rejected many circumstantial evidence. Krystian Bala was also burdened by the testimony of his friends and ex-wife. From them, the police heard that during a New Year’s Eve party, he told his wife, who was talking to the bartender: “I’ve already done one like that. With a string.”
On September 5, 2007, Krystian Bala was sentenced to 25 years in prison. To this day he maintains his innocence. In 2017, the film “Amok”, directed by Kasia Adamik, based on Bali’s novel and the story of the investigation, was released in cinemas. As he said in a 2017 interview, he had fun “working” on . – For the sake of the story, I would even agree to be a cannibal – he admitted. A year later, another production based on the story of a murder had its world premiere, “True Crimes” with Jim Carrey as a policeman trying to solve the mystery.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
