Marcin Kasprzak is found guilty of trying to murder Michelina Lewandowska, his former partner, by burying her alive in a wood outside Huddersfield. She clawed herself free using her engagement ring.
Marcin Kasprzak has been found guilty of attempting to murder Michelina Lewandowska, 27, by a jury which heard how he attacked her with a Taser and then bound and gagged her before burying her in a cardboard box in woodland near their home in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
After the case, Ms Lewandowska recalled how she thought she was going to die in her cardboard coffin.
In a statement, she said: “During my time inside my shallow grave where I was buried alive I feared that my life was at an end and I was going to die.
“I prayed to God to help me to survive so that I could look after my young son. The thought of my son gave me the strength to fight my way out of the box and save myself.”
The thought of my son gave me the strength to fight my way out of the box and save myself. Michelina Lewandowska
Ms Lewandowska said: “For many years I loved Marcin Kasprzak very much. But after his horrific attack upon me my feelings towards him have turned to hatred.
“I still have nightmares that Marcin will come back to find me and kill me. My only hope is that he can accept that what he did to me was very wrong.
“I really hope that no one will ever experience what I went through on that day in May, at the hands of a man whom I loved and trusted.”
Leeds Crown Court heard how Kasprzak used tape to bind and gag Miss Lewandowska after using the stun gun on her twice.
She then agreed to get inside the large cardboard box, which had originally been used to package a computer.
With help of his friend Patryk Borys, 18, Kasprzak then put the box in a car and drove it a couple of miles to woodland near Woodsome Hall Golf Club, south of Huddersfield.
I still have nightmares that Marcin will come back to find me and kill me – Michelina Lewandowska
Ms Lewandowska, who was in the box for about an hour, was left in the ground under soil, leaves and a 40kg tree branch.
She told the court she used her engagement ring to cut herself free and pull the box apart, then flagged down a passing motorist.
The court heard that Ms Lewandowska was attacked by fellow Pole Kasprzak because their relationship had come to an end and he wanted their three-year-old son, Jakub.
Kasprzak, of Huddersfield, told the court he only meant to scare Ms Lewandowska and did not intend to kill her. He was found guilty of attempted murder by an 11-1 majority after eight hours of deliberations.
Borys, of Rashcliffe Hill Road, Huddersfield, was cleared today of attempted murder. He did not give evidence during the trial.
Both men admitted kidnap at a previous hearing. Kasprzak also admitted possessing a prohibited weapon.