THE SWISS citizen who had scheduled a meeting with the alleged cannibal from eastern Slovakia, whose story came as a shock for the country and attracted the attention of media around the world, was not to become his first victim. In particular, the Slovak police discovered a grave with two dead bodies, most likely the victims of the alleged cannibal, on May 17.
On May 10 an undercover team swooped in on an area near Kysak, a village in the vicinity of Košice, after learning that a local man, Matej Čurko, was planning to kill and eat a Swiss citizen with whom he made an online pact. The police operation was not a complete success: the suspect was armed and both he and a police officer were seriously injured in the ensuing shoot-out. The suspect died of his injuries two days later.
The information from Čurko’s computer which was seized by the police from his house after he was detained allowed the police to locate spots in the forests near Kysak where they found the following: an improvised altar with a candle, various tools such as clenches, ropes and a mattock. They also discovered a shallow grave with two female bodies; the president of the Police Corps, Jaroslav Spišiak, told a press conference on May 17, as reported by the TASR newswire.
“We have identified the grave, in which we have found the relics of two female bodies buried in a shallow grave and covered with a plastic foil,” Spišiak said, adding that the bodies were missing some parts, matching the parts of bodies depicted on images which Čurko sent by e-mail to Switzerland.
Girl from Snina might be one of them
One of the bodies was found naked while the other one still had on some clothes, matching the description of a missing 20-year-old girl, Lucia Uchnárová from Snina. She had been missing since September 2010. Interestingly, the Slovak media had previously reported a possible connection between her and Čurko.
The Sme daily reported on May 13 that she had psychological problems and had attempted suicide in 2008. She allegedly made a connection with her murderer after she publicly announced on Facebook that she wanted to die, Sme wrote.
The identity of the bodies will be clarified by a DNA analysis.
Cannibal died in the hospital
Slovak police were notified about the planned cannibalism by Interpol. The Swiss man, who had expressed a desire to be killed and subsequently eaten, found a willing accomplice in Slovakia through the internet and arranged a meeting to carry out the plan, but lost his nerve shortly before travelling and reported the plan to Swiss police.
Police officers then tracked the e-mail communication between the would-be human flesh-eater and the Swiss man. According to the president of the Police Corps, Jaroslav Spišiak, the Swiss agreed to be killed in woodland. The would-be cannibal was supposed to drug him, stab him in the heart and then quarter him. His remains were to be hidden – laced with pepper in order to mask the scent and prevent animals from finding the body – and subsequently eaten over a period of time.
The expected victim was supposed to arrive in Kysak by train, wearing clothes previously agreed on with his intended killer. Slovak police swapped the Swiss man for an agent, who then went to meet the suspect near Kysak on May 10, as agreed. The agent carried a transmitter to allow other officers to track him.
The shoot-out occurred when a police SWAT team attempted to arrest the suspect. The man, who possesses four legally-held firearms, pulled out a gun and threatened to shoot the agent; in response police snipers opened fire, hitting him several times. Despite his injuries, he returned fire and managed to shoot one of the SWAT unit members before being subdued.
The 37-year-old officer’s condition had stabilised by the evening of the shooting, although he was reported to be in a critical condition. According to hospital spokesperson Jaroslava Oravcová, his injuries required urgent surgery and he was later placed in the department of anaesthesiology and intensive medicine.
The 43-year-old suspect was shot five times, suffering wounds to several internal organs, as well as to his arms and face. After being admitted to hospital he underwent five hours of surgery but died of his injuries on May 12.
