Jersey murderer who stabbed wife and children to death found dead in prison

A man who killed six people, including his wife and two children, has died in prison.

Damian Rzeszowski, 37, was found dead at HMP Full Sutton in Yorkshire on Saturday.

The builder stabbed his wife, Izabela Rzeszowska, 30, daughter Kinga, five, and son Kacper, two, to death in Jersey in August 2011.

He also killed his father-in-law, Marek Gartska, 56, and his wife’s friend, Marta De La Haye, 34, and her five-year-old daughter, Julia.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “Damian Rzeszowski died in custody at HMP Full Sutton on Saturday 31 March 2018.

“As with all deaths in custody, there will be an independent investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.”

Rzeszowski was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter due to diminished responsibility at his trial at Jersey’s Royal Court in 2012.

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During the trial, it emerged he went on the killing spree shortly after his wife admitted to having an affair.

He had threatened to kill himself and had been suffering from depression, which had caused an onset of psychotic symptoms, the court heard.

He killed his wife and children with kitchen knives at their home in St Helier, Jersey, on August 14, 2011.

His other three victims were at the home for a barbecue.

Rzeszowski was six years into a 30-year prison term in Full Sutton prison, a high-security jail in Yorkshire, when his body was found.

In a statement released Monday, the States police issued a short statement saying: “The States of Jersey Police have been notified about the death of Mr Rzeszowski.

“An investigation into his death will be carried out by the UK police. SOJP will not be issuing any further information.”

At the time of sentencing, Judge Michael Birt, who is the Bailiff of Jersey, told the court: “The horror and brutality of these killings is hard to believe.

“Within a quarter of an hour all six people had died, their lives cruelly cut short at the hand of this defendant.

“The court is in no doubt from the nature of the attacks that you intended to kill all six victims.

“This was not a case of murder – the court found you guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility – but you still pose a risk of harm to anyone you are in a relationship with.”

Rzeszowski and his wife had just returned home that day from a holiday in their native Poland which had been a last-ditch attempt to save their marriage.

Rzeszowski’s defence team successfully argued that he was suffering from a severe abnormality of the brain at the time of the killings.