A Polish man accused of murdering his partner in Argentina in front of her little daughter has been found dead in a hotel in Paraguay while wanted on a national and international arrest warrant.
The 45-year-old was found dead on 18th August at a hotel in Filadelfia, in Paraguay's western Boqueron Department, around 470 kilometres from the capital Asuncion.
Jan Lu Korzeniecki was wanted over the death of 36-year-old Luciana Ojeda in Cordoba, Argentina, and Interpol informed Argentine authorities of his death before sending a death certificate that confirmed his identity.
The circumstances and cause of Korzeniecki's death were not immediately disclosed and are being investigated by Paraguayan authorities.
His death came before he could face trial over the killing of 36-year-old Luciana, whose body was discovered in the apartment they shared in Nueva Cordoba, a central neighbourhood of Cordoba City, on 15th July.
Police arrived at the property on Ituzaingo Street at around 6am after receiving a 911 emergency call and found Luciana unconscious.
Paramedics tried to revive her, but eventually confirmed that she had died.
Luciana's five-year-old daughter was also inside the apartment at the time and was later placed in the care of her maternal grandparents.
The case was initially treated as a death of undetermined cause, but preliminary autopsy findings and other evidence led investigators to suspect that Luciana had suffered a violent attack.
The forensic examination found that she died from cardiogenic shock apparently caused by a powerful blow to the chest.
Her brother Luciano later told local media: “She died of cardiogenic shock from a blow to the chest, she had been hit on the arms.”
Luciano also described Korzeniecki as “a violent type” and accused him of having a history of aggressive behaviour.
He said after his sister's death: "Everyone is drawing strength from somewhere we don't have any. We want justice, it cannot be that he continues walking around with impunity."
He also criticised the fact that Korzeniecki was not detained when police first arrived at the apartment.
Luciano said: "He escaped right under their noses. He should have remained under guard or as a witness. He should never have been allowed to leave the scene. It hurts us terribly."
Korzeniecki and Luciana had been in a relationship for around ten months and had been living together in Cordoba since the beginning of July.
He had arrived back in the city from Europe on 6th July, just nine days before Luciana was found dead, on what was reportedly his third trip to Argentina to see her.
Luciana's family told investigators that Korzeniecki had problems with alcohol and described him as “violent” and “controlling”.
Relatives also alleged that, days before her death, he had used a hammer to smash several of Luciana's belongings, including her mobile phone.
A colleague of Luciana's told investigators that she had said Korzeniecki hit her and was violent.
The family said Luciana had decided to end the relationship following the alleged incident.
She also had a panic button issued after a previous domestic violence complaint against another partner.
Although the device was initially believed to have been activated before her death, investigators later established that police officers had activated it themselves during the procedure to check that it was working.
Prosecutor Gonzalo Berrotarán Romano subsequently charged Korzeniecki with aggravated homicide in the context of gender-based violence and ordered his national and international arrest after he left Argentina.
Luciano also revealed that Luciana's daughter had been present when her mother was found and said the child was slowly beginning to remember what happened.
"The girl asks who had killed her mum. She said: ‘Was it Jan or his friend?’" he claimed, while stressing that investigators had not established that another person was involved.
Korzeniecki's death is now expected to bring the criminal case against him to an end, with the prosecutor required to seek dismissal because the only person charged in the case has died.
(Marija Stojkoska/Newsflash)
