Chilling CCTV footage shows a brutal killer carrying his dismembered housemate’s torso in a blue ‘bag for life’ after bludgeoning him to death, flaying his face off and then sawing his body into 27 pieces.
Today, a jury convicted horror-obsessed Polish native Marcin Majerkiewicz of the murdering Stuart Everett, 67, and chopping up his body.
In harrowing clips from April 2 last year, Majerkiewicz can be seen walking around Salford with the hacked up body parts before dumping them in a nature reserve.
In one, Majerkiewicz swaps the bag – clearly extremely heavy – from his left hand to his right and also stopping for a few seconds, putting the bag on the ground before continuing.
His friend Stuart Everett’s torso and thighs – which weighed around 12kg – were found in a bunker at Kersal Dale nature reserve, Salford, wrapped in cling film by a horrified member of the public in April last year.
Police were at that stage unable to identify the murder victim as Majerkiewicz had stolen his identity, sending cards and messages to relatives purporting to be from Mr Everett to make it seem as if he was still alive.
But Majerkiewicz was arrested three weeks after the grim discovery when two plain-clothes officers working on the inquiry spotted him by chance walking in the other direction.
While they knew what the suspect looked like, at this stage they did not know his identity – and therefore had not established that the torso belonged to Stuart Everett, as he hadn’t been reported missing.
The officers turned the car around and followed the suspect on foot before he got on a number 100 bus. Shortly afterwards, Pc Paul Ashworth pulled his police car in front of the bus and boarded it.
Majerkiewicz was told he had been identified as a ‘person of interest’ in a police investigation. He replied: ‘It’s definitely a mistake, 100%.”
Marcin Majerkiewicz dismembered his housemate into 27 pieces before dumping his body parts around Salford in a bid to evade justice
Stuart Everett’s remains were first discovered by a passerby in an abandoned bunker at a nature reserve in Salford in April last year
Mr Everett’s hacked up body parts were dumped at different sites including a nature reserve in Salford, Greater Manchester
Police launched a manhunt after a horrified member of the public made the grim discovery of a torso and thighs wrapped in cling film at a Salford nature reserve last April.
It was immediately obvious that the body part belonged to a man who had been ‘sawn into pieces’, a murder trial at Manchester Crown Court heard.
Mr Everett – who like his killer was of Polish heritage – had not been reported missing as Majerkiewicz had cynically sent messages and greeting cards in his name to pretend he was still alive.
The 42-year-old was dramatically seized on board a bus after police traced CCTV of him walking towards where the remains were found carrying a heavy ‘bag for life’ and returning without it.
They discovered that Mr Everett – from whom he sublet a room at a house in nearby Winton – had not been seen alive for weeks.
Detectives pieced together Majerkiewicz’s movements in the days after the killing and found a further 26 parts of his body at four other locations.
However only around one-third of Mr Everett’s remains have so far been recovered, with the rest feared to have been lost to nature.
His skull alone was split into several fragments with his face stripped off and dumped separately.
When father-of-two Majerkiewicz was arrested three weeks after the torso was found, he was carrying two mobile phones plus bank cards in the name of Mr Everett.
The heavily-tattooed takeaway worker told police: ‘It’s definitely a mistake, 100 per cent.’
But searches of the house he had shared with Mr Everett revealed a different story.
Bloodstains and saw marks were evidence that ‘something terrible had happened’ there, prosecutor Jason Pitter KC told jurors.
A skip outside contained a string of incriminating discoveries including pieces of the carpet from his room containing diluted blood.
Mr Everett, of Polish heritage, lived with his killer in a home in Salford, Greater Manchester
A murder probe was launched after Mr Everett’s torso was found in Kersal Dale nature reserve in April last year
In a bid to cover his tracks, Majerkiewicz posed as Mr Everett to write his birthday a birthday card after murdering him
Majerkiewicz told police ‘it’s definitely a mistake, 100%’ after being arrested on a bus three weeks after Mr Everett’s murder
Police believe a hacksaw to cut up his bones – one was found with Mr Everett’s DNA on it near the reservoir where the skull fragments were found – while a ‘sharp implement’ was used to cut the soft tissues.
The skull fragments were placed together by a pathologist who concluded that Mr Everett had been killed by ‘repeated strikes to the head with a heavy blunt implement’.
Police believe Mr Everett – an unmarried former civil servant originally from Derby – was killed on the night of March 27 last year.
He was christened Roman Ziemacki but anglicised his name.
While the exact motive for the cold-blooded killing which preceded the brutal attempt by Majerkiewicz to cover his tracks may never be known, his trial heard of ‘brewing tension’ in the shared house.
Issues included Mr Everett attempting to pass on a rent increase to Majerkiewicz and a second housemate, Michal Polchowski.
Intriguingly, in 2021 Mr Everett told a woman he had met online that he had a male partner called Kamil – but photographs he sent her of ‘Kamil’ were in fact of Majerkiewicz.
‘Kamil’ shared Majerkiewicz’s date of birth, and – like his future murderer – had ‘many tattoos’.
Police with sniffer dogs scouring one of the sites where Majerkiewicz dumped Mr Everett’s hacked up body parts
Police found evidence of a clean-up at the home that Mr Everett shared with Majerkiewicz
After the murder, CCTV caught Majerkiewicz withdrawing cash from an ATM using Mr Everett’s bank card
Also potentially significant is that Majerkiewicz – who had no previous convictions or cautions – had taken out loans to a total value of £60,000 in 2023.
He had also made searches online indicating that he was considering leaving for Spain, including a search for ‘long term rentals in Alicante’.
Interviewed by police, Majerkiewicz said he knew nothing about the killing of Mr Everett or the disposal of his body parts.
He said Mr Everett had not returned from visiting his brother in March, instead sending a message to say he had been hospitalised due to a stroke.
Asked if he believed Mr Everett was safe and well, jurors were told that Majerkiewicz replied: ‘I hope so – all leads need to be checked.’
Mr Pitter told jurors that this indeed happened – ‘and those leads point to him being responsible for murdering Stuart Everett’.
Police discovered that Majerkiewicz had taken out a phone in Mr Everett’s name months before his death.
On April 3 he researched Mr Everett’s brother’s address and sent him a birthday card purportedly from the dead man.
Chilling CCTV footage shows Majerkiewicz walking around Salford carrying Mr Everett’s body parts in a ‘bag for life’
In the clips, Majerkiewicz can be seen swapping the heavy bag between his hands as he walks
‘Someone steal nothing?’ Majerkiewicz played dumb when he was arrested – but he was found guilty of murder
Meanwhile the phone was also used to access Mr Everett’s bank accounts.
At the murder trial, Majerkiewicz did not give evidence in his defence.
In his closing speech, his barrister, Peter Wright KC, accepted that the evidence pointed ‘unerringly’ to his client having dumped Mr Everett’s body parts.
But he said he continued to deny having killed and dismembered him.
Jurors have heard that the second housemate, Mr Polchowski, was originally also accused of murder, but the charges against him were dropped by prosecutors before the trial.
Mr Wright highlighted how Mr Polchowski – who worked at a food processing business with access to ‘industrial quantities’ of clingfilm – must have been at the house when Mr Everett was killed.
He suggested there remained ‘lingering doubts’ about whether Mr Polchowski had played any role, arguing that there was sufficient doubt for them to acquit his client.
Mr Polchowski denied the charges and they were later dropped.
But in his own speech, prosecutor Mr Pitter said there was ‘compelling’ evidence of Majerkiewicz’s guilt.
He asked jurors to consider why he would have been risking disposing of Mr Everett’s remains while Mr Polchowski continued ‘going about the monotony of his daily routine’ as normal.
It took a jury one hour and 36 minutes to convict Majerkiewicz.
After the guilty verdict was delivered, Mr Everett’s brother Richard Ziemacki said in a statement: ‘Even though it has been almost 12 months we are still haunted by what has happened.
‘This has been made even more difficult knowing the lengths that have gone into orchestrating my brother’s death.
‘Benny is our family nickname for our endearing and loving Stuart.
‘For any person to be treated in the way he was, brutally murdered and systematically and comprehensively disposed of, has meant our family has been left traumatised beyond belief.
‘A couple of months ago, we spent out first Christmas without Benny.
‘This should have been a happy and joyous period for us all, but it was tainted and our Christmas dinner was not the same without him and our family is now incomplete.’
He said he wanted to acknowledge the ‘exceptional’ work police had put in to help find his brother’s remains, ‘to bring him home to us, to determine what happened to him and to ultimately find his killer’.
He also thanked the jury for ‘making the right decision’.
‘The past 12 months have been some of the most challenging the family has ever had to endure,’ he continued.
‘But that has been made just a little bit easier because of the outpouring of love and comforting words from people across Greater Manchester, Derby and beyond who have all come together to mourn with us a truly unique and special human being.
‘I would like to finish Benny’s tribute by sharing what was inscribed on his urn.
‘Those we love don’t go away, they walk with us every day. Unseen, unheard but always near.
‘Still loved, still missed and very dear.’ He then added: ‘Justice for Benny!’
Chief Superintendent Lewis Hughes said it was ‘entirely possible’ Stuart was murdered for financial gain given Majerkiewicz had debts and took control of his bank accounts.
He said Majerkiewicz also had a ‘fascination with horror and gore and that may have played a part in his actions.’
Majerkiewicz liked horror movies and items found on his hard drive and tattoos pointed to an ‘affinity’ with horror.
