Paweł Tuchlin

Paweł Alojzy Tuchlin (April 28, 1946 – May 25, 1987), also known as the Scorpion, was a Polish kidnapper, serial rapist and serial killer. From 1975 to 1983, Tuchlin kidnapped and assaulted 20 women in the city of Gdańsk, murdering nine of them with a hammer. He was arrested in May 1983 on an unrelated theft charge, and subsequently charged with murder after the police found his blood-stained hammer during a search of his farm.

On August 6, 1985, Tuchlin was convicted on nine counts of first-degree murder and eleven counts of attempted murder, and sentenced to death. Following an unsuccessful appeal, the sentence was carried out by hanging on May 25, 1987.

Childhood and youth Paweł Tuchlin was born on April 28, 1946 in the Polish village of Góra to Bernard Tuchlin, an alcoholic farmer, and Monika Tuchlin (née Weier). He was the eighth of 11 children. As a child, Tuchlin endured physical and verbal abuse from his parents due to frequently wetting the bed, a habit that continued into his teenaged years. Tuchel described the effects of the abuse he suffered during his court deposition:

After completing his schooling, Tuchlin joined the Polish military service, but was discharged after a few months when it was discovered that he was hard of hearing.

Tuchlin later left home and moved to Gdańsk, where he got a job as a driver and married his first wife. During this period, he was charged and sentenced for a series of minor thefts, and served the sentences over a period of time from 20 December 1976 to 28 June 1979. Tuchlin then divorced his wife and remarried a woman named Regina. His neighbours in Gdańsk described him as a calm, stable, resourceful man who was introverted but cared for his wife and two children.

Murders and sexual assaults Tuchlin stalked and attacked his victims in several towns within the Elbląg and Bydgoszcz voivodeships, including Starogard Gdański, Skarszewy, and Skowarcz. His youngest victim was 18 years old, and the oldest 35.

List of deaths

Nmb.Name Age Date of deathPlace of murder 1. Irena H. 18 9 November 1979 Niestępowo 2. Anastazja E. 30 1 February 1980 Gdańsk 3. Alicja M. 35 29 April 1980 Skowarcz 4. Cecylia G. 22 17 September 1980 Lubiki 5. Izabela S. 22 19 November 1980 Malbork 6. Wanda K. 30 12 December 1980 Gdańsk 7. Halina G. 19 14 November 1981 Gdańsk 8. Bożena S. 24 8 December 1982 Skarszewy 9. Jolanta K. 19 6 May 1983 Narkowy

Investigation and arrest

On November 18, 1979, Tuchlin attacked and killed his first victim, 18-year old Irena H. During the assault, he dropped the murder weapon, a hammer, which fell into the nearby Radunia river and was later recovered by investigators. The steel head of the hammer featured a 'ZNTK' engraving, indicating that it had been obtained from the Zakłady Naprawcze Taboru Kolejowego, a Polish network of railway vehicle construction and repair workshops. Despite obtaining a purchaser list from the ZNTK store in Gdańsk and interrogating the shop's workers, the police were unable to link the hammer to Tuchlin, who had worked at the company for two weeks; it is thought that Tuchlin may have stolen the weapon instead of buying it, knowing the purchase would be documented.

On 6 January 6, 1983, a special group consisting of 11 investigators was formed at the Provincial Police Headquarters in Gdańsk, by which time Tuchlin had killed seven more women. The group gave Tuchlin the code name "Scorpion", and began to track his movements.

On May 31, 1983, Tuchlin was arrested at the age of 37, on the suspicion of stealing wood. During a subsequent police search of his farm, investigators found a blood-stained hammer in the trunk of Tuchlin's vehicle. Tuchlin was taken in for questioning, and spent six months undergoing psychiatric observation in a facility in Szczecin. During his time at the facility, Tuchlin displayed aberrant behavior, constructing multiple sculptures depicting female genitalia using bread and saliva. He reportedly fell in love with a psychiatrist at the facility, who suffered a nervous breakdown after he gifted her a sculpture and wrote her several sexually explicit letters.

Trial and sentencing

Upon initial interrogation, Tuchlin confessed to the murder of nine of his victims, and to attempting to kill 11 more women who had escaped. He claimed that the murders helped him "feel better". However, during his court hearing, Tuchlin recanted his testimony and claimed that his confession had been coerced. Nevertheless, he was convicted of all nine murders, and on August 6, 1985, the regional court in Gdańsk sentenced him to death. The sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court of Poland upon appeal. After a further petition for leniency to the Polish Council of State was denied, Tuchlin was hanged at a local detention centre on May 25, 1987.

After Tuchlin's death, his head was removed from his body and immersed in a formalin jar, which later went missing. He was buried in the Łostowicki cemetery in Gdańsk. According to Marek Maj, one of Tuchlin's defense attorneys, several gravediggers urinated in his coffin before the lid was closed.