The Collector

The Collector is the nickname given to an unidentified serial killer who murdered at least five people in southern Poland between June and December 1994.

A suspect in the case, a former militiaman, was arrested, but acquitted of the murders, all of which remain unsolved.

Murders Modus operandi The Collector's modus operandi was to pretend to enter the victims' homes under the pretext of reading their gas meters and issuing electricity bills – once inside the home, he would kill the occupants with a 6.35 caliber Walther PP converted to carry live ammunition. Afterwards, he would stay in the residence for some time, making sure to lock all of the doors before leaving the area.

The killer presumably traveled to the various areas via hitchhiking, and is suspected of possibly choosing to target homes that were architecturally similar to one another and were situated near the A4 autostrada. Alternatively, he may have chosen homes he believed to be occupied by single women, but this remains speculative. On that date, he knocked on the door of a house occupied by a middle-aged woman, Lucyna Z., and her two young children. Initially, the door was opened by the older boy, 9-year-old Sebastian – upon seeing him, the man claimed that he made a mistake and promptly left. Sebastian would leave the house shortly after this encounter.

A few minutes after Sebastian left, the man returned to the house and knocked on the door again. He presented himself as the employee of the local power plant and claimed he was here to take the gas meter's readings. Due to the fact he appeared to be inconspicuous and that she was expecting somebody to come by soon, Lucyna allowed him to enter. Following his acquittal, Wojciech B. went on a pilgrimage to Licheń Stary, where he took a picture with a man who greatly resembled Zbigniew Gorszczyk, the prosecutor at his trial.

Years later, officers involved in the case admitted that they were pressured by higher-ups into making an arrest, leading to make many procedural errors that hampered the investigation.

To this day, the murders remain unsolved. It is unknown what happened to the Collector or why he suddenly stopped, with media outlets suggesting that he either moved away, was imprisoned for other crimes or has since died.