Hospital order for Cambridgeshire man who cut his mother’s head off because he believed she was the devil

A man who cut his mother’s head off because he believed her to be the devil has been sentenced to an indefinite hospital order.

Cambridge Crown Court heard that Ernest Grusza, 41, cut Wiesslawa Mierzejeska into 11 pieces in the flat they shared in Norris Road, St Ives, Cambridge Crown Court was told.

He wrapped the body parts of his 59-year-old mother in clingfilm and put them in a cupboard and a fridge, said judge the Honourable Mr Justice Fraser.

The judge said: “One of (Grusza’s) most compelling delusions was that his mother was the devil; he was told by God to kill her, and dismember her body, in order to destroy the devil.

“He was convinced she would resurrect if he poured holy water and blood upon her dismembered body parts.”

Describing the case as “extremely tragic”, he said the two Polish nationals were both hard-working people who had lived in the UK for a “number of years”.

He said witnesses described Grusza as a “quiet and private man, with no hint of violent behaviour at any time”, but that his mental health deteriorated from January this year onwards.

Psychiatrist Professor Keith Rix said that the defendant has bipolar affective disorder, also known as manic depressive illness, and that the killing occurred “in the course of a manic episode”.

The judge said that Grusza’s awareness of what had happened was “limited” and that he had no previous convictions.

The defendant went to a corner shop in St Ives covered in blood on the morning of February 22 this year and the shopkeeper dialled 999, the judge said.

Police attended and went with Grusza to his mother’s flat where they discovered “what can only be described as an utterly nightmarish scene”.

“These officers realised fairly quickly that there were assorted human body parts in the flat,” the judge said.

“The defendant told them they belonged to his mother.

“Other officers, including firearms officers, attended, the reason for this was the defendant had both a meat cleaver and a wooden bat in his hands at times.

“The defendant spent some time in the flat, showing the police officers, through the kitchen window, what he had done.

“He unwrapped some of the body parts, and held up her head to show them. He was arrested.”

Grusza’s mother had attempted to have him sectioned under the Mental Health Act, the judge said, and she “sought help for him from a variety of sources, the GP, the police, social services and first response services”.

“Tragically, nobody provided the help that she tried to obtain,” the judge said.

Addressing Grusza, the judge said: “Any trial involving the death of a person is always tragic.

“However, here, the very person seeking to obtain the help you so desperately needed, who no doubt loved you deeply, was the person who met their end at your hands.”

He said that letters Grusza sent from prison, before the trial, made it clear that he did not “understand that you had killed your mother, who I have no doubt that you loved as you describe in those letters”.

A jury found Grusza not guilty of murder by reason of insanity.

Sentencing him to an indefinite hospital order under the Mental Health Act, he told the defendant: “Your detention is likely to be for a considerable period of time, but that is a matter for the mental health professionals and the secretary of state.

“It is not possible to say for how long you will require treatment, or for how long you will be detained.

“The question of whether and, or when you are released is a matter for the secretary of state.

“Two expert psychiatrists agreed that you were amongst the most ill of patients they had ever seen. They agreed your condition was extremely rare, and each of them had only come across one other patient of this severity in a case of murder in their entire professional careers.

“Letters you sent from prison prior to the trial make it clear that you did not, in the months following your arrest, understand that you had killed your mother, who I have no doubt that you loved as you describe in those letters.

“It is the desperately tragic circumstances of what happened that led to her meeting her death at your hands.

“I would like to pay tribute to the way this trial has been conducted by all of those involved, in particular by counsel, and also for the diligent way the members of the jury approached their task.

“Finally, PC Amos, the police officer who engaged with you on the morning after the killing after the shopkeeper called 999, came to the scene of your mother’s death, and walked into a scene that is almost impossible to describe. He took immediate steps to secure the location, protect other occupants of the building, and contain the situation until the firearms officers arrived. His conduct was both impressive and highly professional. I know that the impact upon him of the events of that morning have been considerable.”

Grusza listened to the judge’s remarks via a video-link from a secure unit.

Detective Inspector Dale Mepstead, of Cambridgeshire police, who investigated, said: “This was an horrendous and brutal act of violence, which saw a woman who was a mother, a friend and a neighbour tragically lose her life.

“My thoughts and sympathies are with Wieslawa’s family who have been utterly devastated by her tragic death.

“This has been a detailed investigation under terribly sad circumstances and I am glad it has reached a conclusion today.”

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