A Look At Disturbing Letters Written By Krysztof Marek, Man Accused Of Killing 5 In Dunning Condo Building
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A judge called it "evil on steroids" – a former condo board president was accused last fall of killing five people at the Northwest Side complex where he lived.
CBS 2's Chris Tye had a look Tuesday night into the final hours before authorities say Krysztof Marek, 66,
In the hours that followed the attack on the night of Saturday, Oct. 12, police said they found multiple cryptic letters in Marek's apartment. On Tuesday night, for the first time, you will see and hear what was in them.
They offered a jumbled glimpse into the deadliest attack in Chicago in years.
The words "NO MERCY!!!" were found handwritten and taped to a wall inside Marek's condo in the 6700 block of West Irving Park Road near Oak Park Avenue in the Dunning community. The unseated condo president was in the midst of bankruptcy, foreclosure, and eviction.
But he was also busy writing to the Department of Justice and U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Illinois). CBS 2 has obtained those letters for the first time.
Among the statements Marek wrote were:
"Some people living in this same building are against me."
"Nothing has been done and I can't wait any longer and I'm very determined to expose those people and this activity - I will contact the press because won't let this slide."
"This illegal activity is torture… and yes I am the subject of the crime."
"I went to USDA twice and to FBI 5 times."
"Nobody never respond to my complaint. No phone call or letter. And I can't wait any longer."
"I'm very determined to expose those people and this activity."
And in a sharp contrast to his violence and anger, Marek also referenced a YouTube video titled, "A Lovely Day in Tarnow, Poland" – a homeland that Marek will likely never see again.
Marek's writings found in the hours after prosecutors said he stormed into a neighbor's family dinner and shot and killed four people. He then shot and killed a fifth woman as she tried to flee, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Tsvetanka Kostadinova and Ivaylo Popov, both 43, were sitting down for dinner Saturday evening in unit 2D with Popov's mother, 65-year-old Iskra Pourel-Popova, and her boyfriend, 61-year-old David Hanik, waiting for a fifth family member to arrive.
As they were all sitting around the dinner table, Marek walked in through the front door, and shot all four with a .40-caliber handgun, Murphy said. All four of their bodies dropped to the floor around the table, prosecutors said.
He then walked up to the third floor and unit 3C, still carrying the gun, and went into an apartment where 53-year-old Jolanta Topolska was sitting on her couch, and shot her in the abdomen. Meantime, her son, who had heard the gunfire downstairs, had gone out the back door to investigate, and was walking back in as Marek was pointing the gun at his mother, Murphy said.
Topolska and her son ran out the back door of the third-floor apartment, and Marek shot Topolska in the back of the head, according to Murphy. Marek then walked back to his condo, put his gun on his coffee table, and exited the front of the building as police arrived.
Murphy said Marek told police, "I think you're looking for me, I did it," and then told officers the door to his condo was open, and the gun was inside.
Prosecutors said that Marek had not been paying his mortgage or his condo association fees, and the homeowners' association was trying to evict him.
Marek also filed for bankruptcy in 2017, according to court records. Foreclosure lawsuits were filed against him at that time.
Neighbors also say there was an incident between Marek and the son of one of the victims who was hosting the dinner party this past summer, where Marek punched him in the face out of the blue.
The building manager at the condo complex told CBS 2's Tye in October that Marek "flipped out" when the condo association voted him out as president of the board around the same time he filed for bankruptcy. He had reportedly become sloppy with bookkeeping.
Although neighbors expected him to do something "stupid" at the time, they did not expect something like the murders.
Marek is charged with five counts of first degree murder. He is being held without bond and is due back in court in February.
