A man arrested on suspicion of murder after allegedly cutting his victim into 27 pieces told police: “It’s definitely a mistake, 100%,” a court has heard.
Marcin Majerkiewicz, 42, was held on 25 April last year following the discovery of a human torso at Kersal Dale nature reserve in Salford, Greater Manchester, on 4 April.
He denies the murder or manslaughter of Stuart Everett, 67, at the home they lived in in Winton between 27-28 March.
The remains were initially unidentified but Greater Manchester Police later discovered CCTV of a man going to the “deposition site” with a heavy bag and returning without it, Manchester Crown Court was told.
Three weeks after the discovery, two plain clothes officers working on the inquiry were driving an unmarked police car in Salford and passed Mr Majerkiewicz walking in the other direction, the court heard.
The investigation support officer, Clare Daly, told her colleague Matthew Ross behind the wheel: “I think that’s the suspect.
“I saw an individual on the pathway who matched the description of the suspect we were trying to trace,” she said in a statement, read to the jury.
The officers turned the car around and followed the suspect on foot before he got on a number 100 bus, the court heard.
Shortly afterwards, PC Paul Ashworth pulled his police car in front of the bus and boarded.
Body-worn video footage played to the jury showed the officer telling the suspect he was being detained to be searched, before he was handcuffed and taken off the bus.
Mr Majerkiewicz was told he had been identified as a “person of interest” in a police investigation.
He replied: “It’s definitely a mistake, 100%.”
PC Ashworth then told Mr Majerkiewicz he had been seen on several occasions on CCTV by police investigating a serious incident.
Mr Majerkiewicz later said: “Someone steal something?”
PC Ashworth replied: “It’s a bit more serious than that, matey.”
Police found Mr Majerkiewicz had on him the phone and bank cards belonging to Mr Everett.
Minutes later, the officer then cautioned Mr Majerkiewicz, warning he was being arrested on suspicion of murder.
“What?” the suspect replies, before asking for a translator and shaking his head.
When police went to the house Mr Majerkiewicz shared with Mr Everett on Worsley Road, they found a skip outside full of household items.
‘Something terrible’
Inside they found evidence of bloodstaining and a clean-up operation, showing “something terrible had happened in that house”, Jason Pitter KC, prosecuting, told jurors.
Analysis of Mr Majerkiewicz’s phone movements and CCTV footage showed him carrying bags and taking the bus on numerous “deposition journeys” to get rid of his victim’s body, it is alleged.
Jurors were told only about one third of Mr Everett’s body has been recovered.
Pathology of the skull fragments showed Mr Everett, a former civil servant originally from Derby, had been subject to a “sustained, severe blunt force physical assault”, with repeated blows to his head, shattering and fracturing his skull, before being dismembered with a hacksaw.
The trial continues.
