At the beginning of the seventies of the last century there was a disappearance, which shocked the inhabitants of Wielkopolska. It was just the beginning of a bloody history that became a part of the local folklore, ensuring eternal (in) fame for one of the most brutal Polish murderers ...
On November 1973, in Marianów near Sieraków, a worried husband reported his wife's disappearance to the police. The woman left the house at the evening need to go to an outhouse next to the cowshed. When her absence was prolonged, the man decided to check if she was okay. When he got to the barn, he noticed traces in the fresh snow that immediately disturbed him. Someone seemed to be rolling there first and then dragging something heavy on the ground. The trail led towards the nearby Warta river. Its cool waters turned out to be the last resting place of Angela B.
Soon the investigators' attention caught the woman's neighbor. He was the husband and father of several children who had a reputation for being "sexually hyperactive". The policemen launched a sexual attack. The suspect was Józef Pluta, and evidence found in his home indicated guilt. Confronted with the collected material, he confessed to the murder. However, his motives were more shocking than anyone might have guessed…
Well, Angela found Joseph during intercourse with ... her sheep. The stunned woman threatened the man to tell everyone about this event. Frightened by the prospect, Pluta threw himself at her, overpowered and strangled her. He was sentenced to 12 years for the crime.
The return of the monster
The stay in prison was hell for him - his fellow inmates persecuted him and humiliated him for his zoophilic tendencies. His fate improved when, after two years of imprisonment, in 1976, Pluta was sent to a psychiatric institution. It gave him a chance to stay temporarily at large in connection with the performance of minor repair and construction works. The man found himself very well at this job and at the center, so when he was informed of his return to prison in 1979, he decided to escape.
A house and a barn in Pąchy near Nowy Tomyśl, where the killings were carried out.
For his first stop, he chose Teresa S.'s house, located in Pąchy near Nowy Tomyśl. A woman he met at the hospital hosted him with a warm dinner in the company of her husband and teenage daughter. After a meal, as a "thank you", Józef slaughtered all three with an ax (he raped a thirteen-year-old girl a moment before his death). In the barn next to the house, the murderer also killed 80-year-old Wojciech J., who was living with S's family. These events took place on the night of September 9-10.
He committed the next crime on October 20 in Suchy Las. He attacked the family of K., the neighbors of the doctor, whose house he was renovating during his stay in the "psychiatric ward" with an ax. Two people were killed and two were seriously injured.
The sight of these massacres shocked both the militia and the local population. The fear of meeting a psychopath kept everyone awake at night. A manhunt began to find Pluta, alive or dead.
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Chasing the beast
Many militia units were involved in the search. The systematic sweeping of the area proved effective:the noose around the convergence began to tighten until it finally reached a climax that remains controversial to this day.
According to the official report , Pluto's hounds, with no chance of escape, decided to take a desperate step. At the sight of the investigators trampling on his heels, he hanged himself from a tree . The rope, however, failed to support his weight, and broke off. The keys to the house of the family killed in Pąchach were found in the deceased's pocket, thanks to which the man was directly linked to this crime.
However, there is another, informal version of the events of October 29, 1979. According to it, Józef was caught by the police and shot, and his suicide was faked. We will probably never know the truth. His sudden death also destroyed the chance to learn his motives in committing subsequent crimes.
Józef Pluta, however, managed to enter the history of Wielkopolska for good, becoming an almost mythical figure of local folklore. After his death, for a long time in school squares and city yards, one could hear a nursery rhyme, which the children frightened each other:
Who are you? Little Pluta.
What is your sign? The white ax.
Where do you live? In Suchy Las.
What are you carrying? I am carrying the corpse.
What are you going to do with it? I don't know anymore.
Where are you going? Kill yourself.
There is a tree, I will climb it. These bastards won't get me.
And then what? As a ghost I will return and I will curse you.