Skin Hunters
Encyclopedia
The "Skin Hunters" is the media nickname
for four hospital casualty
workers from the Polish
city of Łódź, who were convicted of murdering at least five patients and selling information regarding their deaths to funeral homes. They were apprehended in 2002. Their descriptive designation was coined by a newspaper article which first brought the story to the public's attention.
(brand name Pavulon). The four workers then sold information about the deceased patients to funeral homes, so they could contact the relatives before other funeral homes could. They exacted bribes ranging from 12,000 to over 70,000 zloty.
The killers are:
Their sentences were upheld by the Łódź Appeal Court in June 2008. Further appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court of Poland
on October 27, 2009.
The investigation into the scandal is still ongoing and a total of forty other members of the casualty department are under investigation, as are the owners of a local funeral home for receiving information regarding the deaths of patients.. The funeral home added the cost of the bribes it paid to the killers to the bills that the families of the deceased paid for their funerals.
by Tomasz Patora, Marcin Stelmasiak and Przemysław Witkowski. They described how the hospital workers or paramedics would call funeral homes regarding patient deaths in order to receive a bribe, and sometimes even killed patients. The dead patients were called "skins" and so the article was called "Skin Hunters" (Łowcy skór).
. In 2008, a documentary of the events, Necrobusiness, was made by a Swedish company.
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
for four hospital casualty
Emergency department
An emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...
workers from the Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
city of Łódź, who were convicted of murdering at least five patients and selling information regarding their deaths to funeral homes. They were apprehended in 2002. Their descriptive designation was coined by a newspaper article which first brought the story to the public's attention.
Case
On January 20, 2007 four employees from a hospital casualty department in Łódź were sentenced. The perpetrators were shown to have killed mostly elderly patients using the muscle relaxant pancuroniumPancuronium
Pancuronium is a muscle relaxant with various purposes. It is the second of three drugs administered during most lethal injections in the United States.- Mode of action :...
(brand name Pavulon). The four workers then sold information about the deceased patients to funeral homes, so they could contact the relatives before other funeral homes could. They exacted bribes ranging from 12,000 to over 70,000 zloty.
The killers are:
- ParamedicParamedicA paramedic is a healthcare professional that works in emergency medical situations. Paramedics provide advanced levels of care for medical emergencies and trauma. The majority of paramedics are based in the field in ambulances, emergency response vehicles, or in specialist mobile units such as...
Andrzej Nowocień was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of four patients and for helping Karol B. in a further murder. He confessed to more than 50 murders to a cellmate. - Paramedic Karol Banaś was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for the "particularly cruel" ("szczególnie okrutne") murder of "Ludmiła Ś." and for helping Andrzej N. murder the other patients.
- DoctorPhysicianA physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
Janusz Kuliński was sentenced to six years and banned from practising medicine for 10 years, for willfully endangering 10 patients. - Doctor Paweł W. was sentenced to five years and banned from practising medicine for 10 years for the willful endangering of four patients.
Their sentences were upheld by the Łódź Appeal Court in June 2008. Further appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court of Poland
Supreme Court of Poland
The Supreme Court of the Republic of Poland supervises the adjudication in:* General courts - these are district, regional, and appeal courts. They adjudicate in the areas of civil, criminal, family and labour law....
on October 27, 2009.
The investigation into the scandal is still ongoing and a total of forty other members of the casualty department are under investigation, as are the owners of a local funeral home for receiving information regarding the deaths of patients.. The funeral home added the cost of the bribes it paid to the killers to the bills that the families of the deceased paid for their funerals.
Discovery
The scandal was first brought to public attention on January 23, 2002 in an article in the Polish newspaper Gazeta WyborczaGazeta Wyborcza
Gazeta Wyborcza is a leading Polish newspaper. It covers the gamut of political, international and general news. Like all the Polish newspapers, it is printed on compact-sized paper, and is published by the multimedia corporation Agora SA...
by Tomasz Patora, Marcin Stelmasiak and Przemysław Witkowski. They described how the hospital workers or paramedics would call funeral homes regarding patient deaths in order to receive a bribe, and sometimes even killed patients. The dead patients were called "skins" and so the article was called "Skin Hunters" (Łowcy skór).
In popular culture
In 2003, a film Skin Hunters (Łowcy skór) was made of the case starring Piotr AdamczykPiotr Adamczyk
Piotr Adamczyk is a Polish actor.He portrayed Karol Wojtyła, who later became Pope John Paul II, in the movie Karol: A Man Who Became Pope and Karol: The Pope, The Man....
. In 2008, a documentary of the events, Necrobusiness, was made by a Swedish company.