Jozef Slovák (born 1951) is a Slovak

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

who murdered at least five women in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

and the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

from 1978 to 1991 between the ages of 16 and 21. He is currently serving a life sentence for four murders in

Ilava Ilava (, ) is a town in the Trenčín Region, northwestern Slovakia. Name The name is of uncertain origin. The historic medieval names were ''Lewe'', ''Lewa'' (the same historic name as Levice), ''Lewa de cidca fluviom Vag'', later ''Ilava''. ...

Prison in

. Slovák remains one of the most significant participants in the controversial wide-ranging

amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...

of the newly elected President of

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...

. Because of this amnesty, Slovák served only eight years in prison for the murder of a 21-year-old Yugoslavian woman, and after his release, murdered at least four other young women in less than a year and a half before again being captured. Jozef Slovák remains one of only two people convicted of a series of murders without any ties to

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

in the modern

history of Slovakia The history of Slovakia spans from prehistoric settlements to the modern Slovak Republic. Situated in Central Europe, the region’s earliest evidence of human habitation dates to the Palaeolithic era, with significant Neolithic and Bronze Age c ...

(the other being Ondrej Rigo).

Early life

Little is known about Slovák's early life. He was born in Plavecký Štvrtok,

on April 7, 1951. Altogether, he was sentenced to prison eight times during his life.

Murders

Jozef Slovák was convicted of the murder of five women, listed below. Jozef Slovák met his first victim,

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

n woman Blažica P. on a train. On August 22, 1978, he took her into the woods in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

, Železná studnička (today part of

Bratislava Forest Park Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

) and tried to have sex with her. As she refused and tried to fight back, he choked her to death. After the murder, he dragged her body deeper into the forest and covered it with branches. After burning some of Blažica P.'s clothing right there in the forest, he gave some of the things she had on her body to his girlfriend. In 1982, Slovák was sentenced to 15 years in prison for this first murder. He started to serve his sentence in

Leopoldov Prison The Leopoldov Prison () is a Slovak state-operated penitentiary facility located in the town of Leopoldov. Initially a 17th-century fortress built to defend against Ottoman Turks, it was converted into a high-security prison in the 19th century, ...

but was released on probation March 10, 1990 because of a wide-ranging amnesty by president of Czechoslovakia

. Almost two-thirds of Czechoslovak criminals at that time were released from prison practically at the same time. Many murderers, career criminals and other dangerous people were released from prisons on probation or parole. Without the amnesty, Slovák would not have been released until 1997. From 1990 to 1991, Slovák murdered at least four women, committing his second murder just four months after being released from prison. He met his second victim, Monika Ondíková (from

Moldava nad Bodvou Moldava nad Bodvou (; ; Yiddish מילדוי / סעפשי) is a town and municipality in Košice-okolie District in the Košice Region of eastern Slovakia. History In historical records the town was first mentioned in 1255. Geography The town li ...

), in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. On July 4, 1990, he left the capital with her for

Konopiště Konopiště Castle (; , ) is a four-winged, three-storey castle located in Konopiště, now a part of the town of Benešov in Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic. It has become famous as the last residence of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austr ...

, near

Benešov Benešov (; ) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 17,000 inhabitants. The town is known for the Konopiště Castle. Administrative division Benešov consists of 15 municipal parts (in brackets population ...

, about 50 km (30 mi) southeast of Prague. In the manor park, Jozef Slovák shot her eight times from his gas gun, using neuroparalytic gas. Then, he hit her in the head several times with a stick, killing her. He searched the body, finding and stealing US$2,400, 800 German marks, over 16,000 Austrian schillings, a ring and her makeup. Again, he dragged the body deeper into the nearby forest and covered it with branches. Slovák returned to her body a week later to put a railway ticket to

České Budějovice České Budějovice (; ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 97,000 inhabitants. The city is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše. České Budějovice is the largest ...

into her pocket, trying to confuse the police. Two days after his last murder, Slovák was arrested in

. Bruises were found on his body caused by Anna Královičová. The police also found an illegal firearm. On August 20, 1993, he was sentenced to life imprisonment by the City Court of

for the murders of Monika Ondíková, Vladislava Maříková, Diana Lopuchovská and Anna Královičová. In 1997, Slovák complained to

city representatives that he was unable to create any new inventions in his field of electronics, mainly because of the lack of tools and not having access to a typewriter.

References

Sources

Kriminalistika.eu - "Kriminalistika: Muzeum zločinu"
(in

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

)
Interview with Jozef Slovák in Šarm magazine
(in Slovak) from 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Slovak, Jozef 1951 births Czechoslovak murderers of children Czechoslovak serial killers Living people Slovak prisoners and detainees Slovak prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment People convicted of murder by Slovakia People with antisocial personality disorder Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Slovakia Slovak people convicted of murder Slovak serial killers Violence against women in Europe Violence against women in Slovakia Violence against women in the Czech Republic Violence against women in Czechoslovakia

Early life

Murders

See also

References

Sources