Ruislip & Eastcote & Northwood Gazette
Ex-boyfriend killed woman with hammer after luring her to flat
MAN SHOWED ‘NO REMORSE’ AFTER BEING FOUND GUILTY OF ATTACK
A MAN has been jailed for more than 20 years for the brutal murder of his exgirlfriend with a claw hammer in Hillingdon.
Wojciech Tadewicz, 27, of Whittington Avenue, Hayes, was found guilty of the murder of Sandra Zmijan after a trial at the Old Bailey on December 5.
On Friday December 6 he was sentenced to 22 years in prison, with the judge saying he was “not persuaded” by Tadewicz’s claim of diminished responsibility.
The court heard how Sandra, a 31-year-old mother of two, went to Tadewicz’s home address on Thursday September 20, 2018, to pick up a ticket from him to an amateur boxing event.
Sandra was to compete in a charity boxing match the following day, as she had taken up boxing as a hobby after recovering from cancer.
The pair had been in a six-month relationship, but Sandra had texted Tadewicz a few days before to tell him she just wanted to be friends.
Analysis of CCTV and Oyster card records, carried out by detectives from the Met’s Homicide Team, revealed that Sandra had travelled to Tadewicz’s address on September 20, but had not returned home to her two children.
Emergency services were called to Tadewicz’s address in the early hours of Friday September 21, 2018, after his housemates found him in his room with multiple cuts to his wrists and arms.
Tadewicz was taken to hospital and spoken to by police officers. He said he had smoked cannabis the night before and did not remember how he had got cut.
After Sandra failed to return home for two nights, she was reported missing on Saturday September 22, 2018.
Sandra’s children and friends had tried to find her and had called her constantly over four days.
On Monday September 24, some of Sandra’s friends, along with her daughter, rang her phone again and this time it was answered by Tadewicz’s sister, who had found the phone in Tadewicz’s room.
Police were called to the Whittington Avenue address again shortly before 10am on Monday September 24 and, after a search behind trees in the back garden, they found Sandra’s body.
A claw hammer stained with Sandra’s blood was found next to her.
A post-mortem examination gave a cause of death as head injury through a sustained assault with a heavy blunt object.
Tadewicz was arrested at hospital on September 24 and gave a series of ‘no comment’ police interviews.
He was charged with murder two days later.
Detective Chief Inspector Simon Harding, of the Met’s Homicide Team, said: “After luring her to his home address on the pretence of giving her back a ticket for the boxing event, Tadewicz carried out a frenzied attack on Sandra, using a claw hammer to hit her repeatedly on the head.
“Sandra had told Tadewicz just a few days before that she no longer wished to be in a relationship with him. Her death has now left two young children without a mother.
“Tadewicz has not showed any remorse and has tried to avoid responsibility for his actions by claiming he has no recollection of the events after Sandra met him that night due to the drugs he had consumed.
“I am glad the jury has returned a guilty verdict in this case and, though nothing will ever make up for the loss of Sandra, I hope her family can now take some comfort from the fact he will be in prison for a long time.
“I would also like to thank my team of detectives who worked quickly to compile a detailed forensic case against Tadewicz and achieve a conviction in this case.”