Suspects acquitted in suspicious death of homeless Polish man in Amsterdam

An Amsterdam court acquitted Robert N. and Lukasz U. of manslaughter of 40-year-old Krzysztof Malinowski in their encampment at the Sloterplas in 2020. It is still unclear who was the perpetrator of the crime, according to Het Parool.

U. got three months in prison for his role in leaving the victim helpless by the side of the water. He told police he had witnessed the victim being beaten up by two other people from the encampment, and did not want to touch Malinowski afterward in case authorities found his DNA on the body. The prosecutor originally demanded 12 years for manslaughter for both suspects.

"Despite the enormous efforts of the police and experts, the court is in the dark as to how Malinowski got his injuries," the judges wrote in their verdict. "Because, was it one of the suspects, was it both, or was it others who beat him up?"

A dog walker found Malinowski lying wrapped in a tent at the water's edge near the Sloterplas on in August 2020. Almost every bone in his head and body was broken from the violence. Police said the victim lived in tents around the edges of the Sloterplas and was part of a large group of homeless people in the city.

The exact motive for the crime is still unknown. According to Het Parool, stories circulated in the encampment say that Malinowski suggested the suspects were gay, or alternatively that the victim urinated on one of the suspects.

Malinowski was left to die with injuries that kept him from calling for help. "That shows a shocking indifference to the life of another," the prosecutor said.