Jozef Slovák

Case record: Jozef Slovák

Jozef Slovák (born 1951) was a Slovak serial killer who murdered at least 5 women in Slovakia and Czech Republic from 1978 to 1991.

He was of above average intelligence and authored and held several patents in electronics. Psychologists arranged by the court found him to be a psychopath. His personality showed traits of pathological aggressiveness, short-temperedness, and egocentrism. Psychologists had not found any kind of sexual deviancy in Slovák. He also did not have a tendency towards alcohol consumption or consumption of other drugs.

Slovák served a life sentence for 4 murders in Ilava prison, Slovakia. He was one of the only two people convicted of serial killing without any ties to organized crime in the modern history of Slovakia (the other was Ondrej Rigo).

Timeline

• 1978-08-22 — Slovák killed Blažica P. in Železná studnička, Bratislava, Slovakia.
• 1982 — Slovák was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his first murder.
• 1990-03-10 — Slovák was released on probation.
• 1990-07-04 — Slovák killed Monika Ondíková in Konopište u Benešova, Czech Republic.
• 1990 — Slovák killed Vladislava Maříková late July 1990 on Kamzík hill, Bratislava, Slovakia.
• 1991-06-26 — Slovák killed Diana Lopuchovská in Záhorská Bystrica, Bratislava, Slovakia.
• 1991-07-16 — Slovák killed Anna Královičová in Železná studienka, Bratislava, Slovakia.
• 1991 — Slovák was arrested in Bratislava two days after his last murder.
• 1993-08-20 — Slovák was sentenced to life imprisonment by the City Court of Bratislava for four murders.
• 1997 — Slovák complained to Ilava city representatives that he was unable to make new inventions.

Background

Slovák was born in Plavecký Štvrtok, Slovakia on April 7, 1951.

Altogether, he was sentenced 8 times during his life.

The offences

Slovák murdered probably 5 women, although some investigators believed there might be more victims. The list of victims proved by the Slovak courts included the following:

• Blažica P., age 21 — Status: Killed; Date of Attack: August 22, 1978; Location: Železná studienka, Bratislava, Slovakia
• Monika Ondíková, age 18 — Status: Killed; Date of Attack: July 4, 1990; Location: Konopište u Benešova, Czech Republic
• Vladislava Maříková, age 18 — Status: Killed; Date of Attack: late July 1990; Location: Kamzík hill, Bratislava, Slovakia
• Diana Lopuchovská, age 17 — Status: Killed; Date of Attack: June 26, 1991; Location: Záhorská Bystrica, Bratislava, Slovakia
• Anna Královičová, age 16 — Status: Killed; Date of Attack: July 16, 1991; Location: Železná studienka, Bratislava, Slovakia

Slovák met his first victim, Yugoslavian woman Blažica P., on a train. On August 22, 1978, Slovák and Blažica P. went into the woods in Bratislava at Železná studnička (today part of Bratislava Forest Park). Slovák tried to have sex with her. As she refused and tried to fight back, he choked her to death. After the murder, he dragged her body deeper into the forest and covered it with branches. After burning some of Blažica P.’s clothing right there in the forest, he gave some of the things she had on her body to his girlfriend.

From 1990 to 1991, Slovák murdered at least 4 women. His second murder occurred four months after being released from prison.

Slovák met his second victim, Monika Ondíková, from Moldava nad Bodvou, Slovakia, in Prague. On July 4, 1990, they left the capital together for Konopiště, near Benešov, about 50 km (30 mi) southeast of Prague. In the manor park, Slovák shot her 8 times from his gas gun, using neuroparalytic gas. He then hit her in the head several times with a stick, killing her. He searched the body, finding and stealing 2.400 U.S. Dollars, 800 German marks, over 16.000 Austrian schillings, a ring and her make-up. Again, he dragged the body deeper into the nearby forest and covered it with branches. Slovák returned to her body a week later to put a railway ticket to České Budějovice into her pocket, trying to confuse the police.

Investigation and arrest

Two days after his last murder, Slovák was arrested in Bratislava. Bruises were found on his body caused by Anna Královičová's defence. The police also found an illegally held firearm.

Sentencing

In 1982, Slovák was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his first murder.

He started to serve his sentence in Leopoldov Prison but was released on probation on March 10, 1990. The release occurred because of a wide-ranging amnesty by President of Czechoslovakia Václav Havel. The amnesty led to the release of almost two-thirds of Czechoslovak criminals practically at the same time. Many murderers, career criminals, and dangerous people were released from prisons on probation or parole. Without the amnesty, Slovák would have been released in 1997.

On August 20, 1993, Slovák was sentenced to life imprisonment by the City Court of Bratislava for the murders of Monika Ondíková, Vladislava Maříková, Diana Lopuchovská, and Anna Královičová.

Personality and psychopathological profile

Psychologists arranged by the court found Slovák to be a psychopath. His personality showed traits of pathological aggressivness, short-temperedness and egocentrism. He did not have a tendency towards alcohol consumption or consumption of other drugs either.

Aftermath and prison-related details

Slovák remained one of the most significant participants in the controversial wide-ranging amnesty of the newly elected President of Czechoslovakia Václav Havel. Because of this amnesty, Slovák served only 8 years in prison for the murder of a 21-year old Yugoslavian woman. After his release, he murdered at least 4 other young women in less than a year and a half before being caught again.

In 1997, Slovák complained to Ilava city representatives that he was unable to make any new inventions, mainly because of lack of tools and lack of a typewriter.