Jealous husband, 42, who beat his wife, 37, to death with an axe before sitting down to watch television is jailed for 21 years

A jealous husband who beat his wife to death with an ax before sitting down to watch television was today jailed for 21 years.

Rafal Winiarski, 42, was likely suffering from ‘paranoid psychosis and delusions of jealousy’ when he murdered 37-year-old Malgorzata Lechanska at their home in Lake Close, Shipdham, Norfolk, in 2021, a court was told.

Police rushed to the scene at 1.30pm on August 1 when a neighbor raised the alarm after hearing a man shouting and a woman screaming, while a young girl who ‘looked distressed’ was also seen outside the house.

Officers arrived at the semi-detached house and found Ms Lechanska on the floor, not breathing. It later emerged that she had suffered seventeen wounds, including multiple skull fractures.

Meanwhile, Winiarski was found on the couch in the lounge, staring at the TV, which was on. The couple’s young daughter was unharmed and stood outside the house with the neighbor who raised the alarm.

At Norwich Crown Court, Winiarski was sentenced to 21 years in prison for manslaughter and ordered to serve a further four years on probation.

Mother-of-two Lechanska, who worked at the Center Parcs holiday village in Elveden, Suffolk, was pronounced dead at the scene by a paramedic and an ax was found near her body.

Winiarski was arrested at the scene and taken to the police investigation center in Wymondham for questioning.

Norwich Crown Court heard Winiarski used an ax and a knife in the attack, leaving his wife with 17 wounds, including skull fractures, consistent with an ax chopping.

Mrs. Lechanska also had multiple defensive wounds from which she had tried to fend him off in their kitchen.

The murder happened minutes after she had returned from a day of shopping and while their seven-year-old daughter was playing in the garden.

Winiarski had to be restrained in shocking courtroom scenes as he tried to slit his own wrists after his conviction.

He initially denied murdering his wife and was due to stand trial, before his guilty plea to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and loss of control was accepted by the prosecution.

Judge Anthony Bate said it had been a ‘vicious and brutal attack’ in which he had ‘savagely attacked her with two weapons’.

He added: ‘It’s clear you intended to kill her. This was not a spontaneous attack.

“You pose a significant risk to the public, especially to any future partners.”

The court heard Winiarski’s mental state meant his ‘rational judgment was significantly impaired’.

He and his wife met in Poland when they were 19 years old and moved to Britain with their two young daughters in 2014.

Prosecutor Riel Karmy Jones KCsaid his actions stemmed from an obsession with his wife having affairs and that he was a ‘suspicious and controlling man’

Police discovered that he had installed secret cameras in the family home and boarded up the windows.

The couple’s eldest daughter, who was at work at the time of her mother’s death, had described previous violent incidents in which her father made threats with a knife.

His history of mental health problems had been worsened by drink and drug abuse and he had become “increasingly unstable” after not taking medication, Ms Karmy-Jones said.

In a statement read out in court, his eldest daughter said she felt he had been repeatedly “let down by the system”.

She added: ‘My father had been mentally unstable for years and my mother and I had tried to help as much as we could.

“We all loved him and wanted the best for him, but because of his unwillingness to see a doctor, no doctor or police officer would help us.”

The court heard Winiarski took off his bloodied clothes before sitting on the sofa and staring at the TV as his wife’s body lay on the kitchen floor.

A blood-stained ax was discovered on the worktop and a knife with the point missing was on the floor.

Ms Karmy-Jones said: ‘The force used to kill her can only be described as brutal.’

In interviews after his arrest, Winiarski initially claimed that it was his wife who had become increasingly aggressive.

He claimed he had not intended to kill her but had become angry at her behavior and thought she had posted ‘bad things’ about him online, the court was told.

Andrew Spence, defending, said he was ‘substantially disabled’ due to a complex mental history and suffered from ‘morbid jealousy’.

One of the prosecution’s experts had concluded that it was “more likely than not” that Winiarski suffered from “paranoid psychosis and delusions of jealousy” regarding his wife.

It meant he lacked the ability to make rational judgments, which affected his decision-making at the time, she said.

Ms Karmy Jones said the Crown had accepted his illness was a ‘significant contributing factor to the commission of the offence’.

Detective Inspector Alix Wright of Norfolk Police, who led the investigation, said: “This was a horrific attack by Rafal Winiarski on his wife. Malgorzata’s family has shown tremendous courage during the investigation.

‘We are committed to tackling domestic violence as a priority and will continue to work with partner organizations to support victims.

‘We would encourage anyone who has been a victim of domestic violence or coercive and controlling behavior to report this to the police or seek professional help.’

A Center Parcs spokesperson paid tribute to Mrs Lechanska after her death, saying: ‘Malgorzata was a highly regarded and popular member of the housekeeping team and she will be truly missed.’

Neighbors also described their shock at the death of the ‘caring’ and ‘quiet’ woman who loved her garden.

Not only did she keep her own garden immaculate, but she also planted flowers and fruit trees at the edge of the green next to her house to brighten it up.

Local residents promised to care for her trees after her death so that they would eventually grow fruit for local children to pick, which was what she had wished for.

Nikita Bailey, 25, from Lake Close, added: “She loved her garden – she was always there. She chopped up fruit so that all the children could come and eat.

“She was a lovely lady, she raised her hand and smiled all the time. She was just one of those quiet people who didn’t really say much.”