A bricklayer has confessed in a letter to bludgeoning a man to death with a bicycle battery before dismembering his body, a court has heard.
Jerzy Jozef D., 40, is accused of hitting homeless man Ralf L., 61, on the head with a blunt object several times before dismembering the victim into 14 pieces and stuffing him a freezer for a year.
The bricklayer admitted to police that he was hiding a body in his apartment in the town of Verl, in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, when he was arrested for fighting with another man at a local train station.
‘He said it straight out, and we were stunned,’ a police officer said, according to German daily Bild.
Police went to his apartment, where they passed a cannabis plantation to get to Jarzy D.’s kitchen and freezer.
When he opened the freezer, the officer said he ‘immediately saw the back of the head, hair, and ears’. He added: ‘Next to it were other body parts.’
The 40-year-old suspect handed a letter titled ‘Conjuring the Spirit of Hitler’ to a psychiatric expert.
In the letter, Jarzy D. wrote: ‘When I hit him on the ground, he was still alive. But I thought of the consequences and beat him to death with the bike battery.’
Jerzy Jozef D. (left), 40, is accused of hitting homeless man Ralf L., 61, on the head with a blunt object several times before dismembering the victim into 14 pieces and stuffing him a freezer for a year
Forensic experts were unable to determine when the victim, Ralf L. (pictured), was killed, but investigators said he had been missing for almost a year
He also described his life of fear and wrote about how the homeless man’s body lay in his trash-filled apartment for three days in November 2023, before he ‘washed it, dismembered it with a Styrofoam knife and froze it’.
Jarzy D. reportedly said that the worst part was ‘the sound of breaking bones’.
Psychiatrist Brian Blackwell spoke to the suspect about the letter for six hours on December 27.
Blackwell later said: ‘It was important to him to talk about it. He delivered it without emotion.’
Forensic experts were unable to determine when the victim, Ralf L., was killed, but investigators said he had been missing for almost a year.
Public prosecutor Claudia Bosse added: ‘The crime occurred between November 19, 2023, and October 12, 2024.’
Neighbours of Jerzy D., who is from Poland, told local media that he had lived in the apartment for two years and was known to get aggressive when drunk.
Jarzy D. also described his life of fear and wrote about how the homeless man’s body lay in his trash-filled apartment for three days in November 2023, before he ‘washed it, dismembered it with a Styrofoam knife and froze it’
Jarzy D. is currently on trial at Bielefeld Regional Court and could face life in prison
The alleged killer was not previously known to police.
Judge Meiring said the actions outlined in the letter could indicate Jarzy D. wanting to conceal the crime.
Jarzy D. is currently on trial at Bielefeld Regional Court and could face life in prison.