The new beginning that resulted in a horrific end | Forensic Files

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preferred platform [Music] in the 1990s TR cona his wife is Jac Lina and their two young children fled
their homeland of Macedonia to escape the war torn Balkans the coners were granted
political asylum in England and by 1997 they were happily settled in their new home they lived in a cozy Victorian era
Terrace in the west London District of Hammersmith the home was small but it allowed the kavas to reside in the
city a living area towards the front of the house doubled as a shared bedroom for the
children Thursday May 22 was set to be a busy day for the family TR worked as a web designer and was also studying
English at Hammersmith College as a mature age student Jac Lina who typically spent her
days at home had made special plans to visit a friend the couple's two children 12-year-old Katarina and a 6-year-old
Christian were off to school triche exchanged Smiles with his daughter as she boarded the school
bus Katarina wore her blue and gray school uniform with her long dark hair down she carried her books in a red and
white tote bag stamped with the Virgin Airlines logo the bag had been a gift upon her
arrival in England back then had held the a few prized possessions she could carry from
Macedonia some photographs a coloring book and a teddy bear after bidding his daughter farewell
triche mounted his bicycle and headed to college he had an English exam that afternoon and a teacher wished to speak
to him afterwards this meant Katarina would arrive home from school to an empty house which made triche
anxious he had never left his daughter home alone before but he reassured himself that everything would be all
right the exam took longer to complete than expected as soon as it was over tray called home to check in with
Katarina there was no answer worried triche raced home it was approaching 4:30 p.m. when he reached
his front door trch set his bicycle aside and headed in he approached the living space
turned children's bedroom only to find its door wedged shut thinking his daughter must have
secured it for privacy TR knocked and said it's Daddy open up he was met with silence tray banged louder and shouted
Katarina Katarina open the door he could hear strange noises coming from inside the room
he thrust his shoulder into the door to force it open but it didn't budge someone had barricaded it from the other
side peering Through the Keyhole TR saw Katarina's school bag and uniform he knelt down to peer under the
door a sense of dread washed over TR inside the room was a pair of men's black boots
[Music] [Music] trich cona was frantic he believed he had just interrup uped a burglar and assumed the man would
make a break for the window triche ran back outside and came face to face with the Intruder just as
he rose from his knees at the base of the living room window he was clutching a small
bag there was a small bloody cup just below his left eye and numerous other scratches across his
face the two men stared at each other before triche finally broke the silence what are you doing in my
house the stranger didn't reply he appeared unnervingly calm TR moved in and grabbed the man by the shoulder in
turn the man produced a small pocket knife as he scrambled to open it triche loosened his grip and turned away to
protect himself the Intruder quickly took off running down the street tras sprinted after him
the pair ran through several streets before tray caught up to the intruder at a building site TR grabbed him in a bear
hug the man began calling for help telling onlookers that triche was assaulting him he had a distinct accent which was
difficult to identify two workmen noticed the scuffle and interceded shouting at triche to
leave the man alone their Interruption allowed the Intruder to get away but TR wasn't about
to give up he followed the man as he ran out onto the road into peek our traffic a woman driving at datson had to
slam on her brakes to avoid hitting the pair the knife wielding man attempted to
enter the datson through an open window the frightened driver had her 4-year-old
son in the car and swiftly rolled up her window before driving away the man then scrambled into into
the back of a passing Lorry before its driver slammed the horn and ordered him to get
out the man then jumped in front of a Fiat Uno crying out help me help me call the police before opening the driver's
door and forcing the woman behind the wheel out by knife Point she managed to push him to the
ground but he quickly leapt into her car and sped off a confused and unsettled crowd of
witnesses gathered around TR cona didn't know the English words to articulate what had just
happened instead of trying to explain the situation he sprinted back home by the time he got there it was
4:50 p.m. triche ran straight for the living room door and kicked it open a chair
that had been jammed up against it fell away Katarina lay face up on the floor unconscious
the strap of her school bag had been cut and was wrapped around her neck the ligature was so tight That triche
Couldn't remove it with his hands he grabbed a knife from the kitchen Katarina's face was purple and
she was barely clinging to life TR cradled his daughter's body repeating her name through Tears while
shouting please come and help me someone a neighbor overheard tr's cries and contacted Emergency
Services soon the con's living room was a buzz with police and paramedics they tried to resuscitate
Katerina but their efforts were in [Music] vain trich was taken to the police station for questioning where he was
made to wear a white forensic suit despite telling the police about the knife wielding Intruder trich knew
they suspected he'd killed his daughter when his wife jacalin arrived at the station with their six-year-old
son Christian she launched at him in a rage shouting what have you done to our little
girl as she kicked and screamed Christian stared at his father with hatred in his
eyes as the homicide investigation commenced triche was left in a Cell he couldn't believe what was happening
everyone thought he'd murdered his child even his own family he started banging his head against the cell walls in
distress but when news of Karina's murder spread more than 20 eyewitnesses came forward to say they had seen tr's
altercation with an unidentified man the man was described as Eastern European in appearance between the ages
of 40 and 50 and around 5' 3 in tall he had a stocky physique pale complexion and balding dark hair that
was graying at the sides he was wearing black shoes dark trousers and a light gray suit or sports jacket with a white
collared shirt underneath CCTV footage from the building site where the fight took place
also confirmed tr's version of events it was blurry and filmed from distance but sure enough a man was
captured running past with a second man in Pursuit an examination of the window in
the con's living room also revealed foreign fingerprints on the glass and frame triche was promptly ruled out as a
suspect he fronted a press conference where he described his daughter as a gifted High
achiever Karina enjoyed school so much she had never taken time off sick she'd excelled in all her subjects
despite only recently learning English and received 50 commendations for her work she was also the leader of the
school's Junior choir Katarina had fully embraced her new life in England and was a big fan of
British pop group The Spice Girls TR cona said all Katarina's friends loved her for her
the world was there to love speaking of his daughter's killer TR remarked this is not a man it's a
monster without feelings animals don't kill like that we don't know how many more children he
could kill detectives theorized that Katarina's killer followed her as she walked home after school he soon
realized she was Home Alone as there were no signs of a Breakin he either entered an unlocked front door or
Katarina opened it to him she must have been incapacitated quickly as there were no reports of
anyone having heard a scuffle cries or yelling postmortem results concluded that Katarina had first been throttled
by hand then strangled with the ligature the car the killer had stolen was found abandoned a quarter of a mile
away from the building s he'd seemingly dumped it after struggling to navigate London's busy afternoon
traffic investigators tracked the Killer's trail from there he had headed on foot to Hammer Smith bus
station at around 4:50 p.m. he boarded The Number 220 bus the driver had noticed that his face
was spattered with blood at 5:00 p.m. the bus arrived at Hammersmith Broadway way a major
transport node and the killer disembarked from there the trail went [Music] cold soon police discovered links
between Katarina con's murder and other attacks that had taken place in Hammer Smith months earlier in February a girl
was followed home from school by a man matching the description of Katarina's killer after the girl ran inside her
home the man tried to open the front door he scratched at the Lock and rang the doorbell but the girl stayed
away eventually the man fled another incident had occurred just 30 minutes before Katarina was
attacked a few streets from where the kavas lived a man matching the Killer's description tailed another 12-year-old
girl to her home home he watched the property for several minutes before leaving all the girls targeted had dark
hair and were wearing school uniforms criminal profilers were convinced that it was only a matter of
time before the Hammersmith Predator struck again yet his crimes suddenly dropped
from the headlines 2 months later when Diana Princess of Wales was killed in a car crash in
Paris her death led to extensive public mourning and received Global media attention despite the reduced public
interest investigators were certain they could solve Katarina con's murder quickly a televised appeal and
reconstruction of the crime led to more than 200 tip offs detectives had Witnesses CCTV
footage a suspect description and the Killer's fingerprints they'd also recovered his
DNA a from the ligature used on Katarina he had also left a strand of his hair on her
cardigan yet it soon became clear that the case wasn't as open and shut as investigators first
thought despite having a detailed composite sketch of the killer he wasn't identified nor did his fingerprints or
DNA profile match anyone in the police database both were sent through to Interpol the international criminal
police organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and Crime Control through Interpol the
unidentified Killers details were shared with over 120 countries but nothing was
uncovered British authorities reached out to law enforcement agencies in 26 countries to see if they had any similar
attacks or suspects this inquiry LED nowhere a list of 600 suspects was whittel down
to 100 many possibilities were explored including that the killer had known the cona family in
Macedonia but months turned into years with no breakthroughs a 20,000 reward was
offered TR cona made an emotional ple for help saying it's too late to save our daughter but it's not too late to save
save other lives it's so difficult to say how we are coping because time doesn't exist
there's just one feeling pain all the time and hoping that the man will be caught one
day in mid to late 2002 a 21-year-old Korean student Ari not her real name moved to
London by Sunday September 22 she she had only been in the city for 3 weeks that day Ari was waiting for a
friend at the eing Broadway transit station as she was in search of cheap accommodation she passed the time by
looking at adverts for local bedsets that were posted in the window of a news agency all of a sudden a man approached
her he was in his mid-40s short and stocky a wig covered his boarding head and he spoke broken English in an
Eastern European accent Ahi couldn't fully grasp what the man was saying as her English was also
limited but he managed to get his point across he had noticed her looking for housing and wanted to offer her a vacant
room at his communal flat in the nearby suburb of Acton Ari agreed to follow the man to
his ground floor home it was grubby and sparsely furnished unimpressed Ari told the man she was
leaving to meet her friend he told her to relax while moving towards the front door to lock
it then without warning he pushed Ari onto his bed and began strangling her Ahi managed to grab a ballpoint pen and
tried to use it to fight back but she was overpowered soon she was on the cusp of
losing Consciousness when Ari came to her hands were tied together with rope and her
mouth was gagged the man raped Ari for 3 hours when she promised to contact him the next day he finally let arri go she
promptly reported her ordeal to the police who quickly identified AR's attacker his passport and other
documentation listed him as a 45-year-old Portuguese national named Jose Marco deaz
he was charged with three rapes two counts of indecent assault false imprisonment and attempting to
choke at trial in May the following year AR's attacker asserted that she had consented to sex as a thank you for
helping her find somewhere to stay the jury wasn't convinced and the judge sentenced him to 9
years with the rapist convicted police uploaded his DNA and fingerprints into their database to see if he was tied to
any other crimes there was a match Andre clber was born in March 1956 in Warsaw Poland at age two he was
placed in an orphanage as his father mother and maternal grandmother were all imprison for theft burglary and fraud
respectively his grandfather was in a state psychiatric hospital for unspecified sexual
offenses when Andre climber's mother was released she regained custody of her son she divorced her husband and married
a cement Mason Andre took his stepfather's surname kovski he was raised in the town of
muava in the Polish lanss 80 Mi north of warsa as a child kunowski was described
as nervous and introverted he was teased at school for being a mama's boy and lashed out at the
smallest provocation during fights he tried to choke his opponents over time he developed a
fixation with girls and would stare at them as though in a trance as he entered his teens kovski
became a heavy drinker he was prone to Violent blackouts and often skipped school when
he did attend he'd grope other students both male and female after kunowski was caught robbing
a woman at age 13 he was sent to a facility for delinquent juveniles his six-month stay there did a
little to curb his issues in 1973 just after he turned 17 kunowski dragged a 16-year-old neighbor
into the bushes and raped her two other victims also came forward at this time accusing kunowski of
similar assaults though he was only charged with the initial one believing he had a good chance of
being rehabilitated the court only sentenced him to 3 years in prison one month after his parole kovski
struck again he grabbed a teenager from behind as she walked alone he bound her hands and feet raped her and choked her
until she lost cont Consciousness the girl was saved when passers by intervened this time kovski was
sentenced to 2 years but was free again within 9 months upon his release he began
traveling between his hometown and the City of Warsaw on the lookout for lone girls and young
women when he spotted one he would exit his vehicle grab his victim then drag her someplace hidden to rape
her his attacks were described as compulsive clusters he would go extended periods
without offending then strike on multiple occasions in a small window of Time konovsky Crimes always involved a
stalking element He relied on his strength as he was incapable of luring in victims with
charm most of his attacks involved choking and strangulation and he often wielded a
knife on one occasion kovski pulled over to ask a woman for directions when she lent into his car to
provide the information kovski closed the window on the woman's neck he then proceeded to rape her while she was
trapped in 1978 alone kunowski committed 21 rapes his youngest victim was 11 years
old on January 26th the following year he raped three women in a single day the law eventually caught up with him
after his fingerprints tied him to several crimes when kovski had his day in court
the prosecution sought the maximum penalty of 25 years imprisonment fearful that kovski crimes would escalate if he
was free they noted that kovski was intelligent stating intelligence is a common
attribute of the psychopathic social offender despite the prosecution's concerns Andre kovski was sentenced to
just 15 years behind bars kunowski continued to offend by raping his soulmate at one point he managed to
escape custody and raped a 13-year-old girl while on the Run he was rearrested the next day and
returned to prison only to escape again and commit a further six attacks in 1983 he was caught and sentenced to
30 years this time in a Maximum Security Prison that managed to hold him but then in 1989 Poland's first
democratically elected president enacted an offender amnesty wherein hundreds of
prisoners were released for good behavior among them was Andre kunowski who had only served six years of his
three decade sentence [Music] kovski began working as a Salesman and commenced a relationship with a woman
who gave birth to his child all the while he continued attacking and raping girls and
women eventually his partner learned of his extensive criminal history and promptly broke up with
him kovski crimes prompted the Polish press to dub him the Beast of muava in 1992 a 14-year-old girl named
agneska gitka vanished from muava while walking home from school she was never found and police
suspected she had been abducted and killed Andre kovski was highlighted as a suspect in the case he was questioned
about agneska gitka but never charged in relation to her Disappearance in 1996 kunowski followed
a 10-year-old girl home from school and barged into her bedroom while she was Home
Alone he passed himself off as a friend of her father's and engaged the girl in small talk to weas her
concerns he then asked Can You Keep a Secret when the girl said yes kovski demanded she kiss him she refused so
kovski choked her until she was barely conscious and raped her he then tied her up with a telephone cord before fleeing
the house via a window the girl yelled for help alerting two men outside who managed to catch
kovski it turned out that the day before he had also ambushed a 12-year-old girl
in a similar incident now he faced a Litany of new charges and was reminded in custody
3 weeks before he was due to stand trial kovski complained of a persistent pain in his left
hip X-rays showed no problem but kovski was adamant he was unwell doctors decided he needed hip
replacement surgery despite the danger he presented the courts ruled that kunowski be
released on medical leave to receive his operation the judge imposed no conditions kovski didn't have to
surrender his passport report to a police station or undergo any other monitoring or
checks he was simply told that he was expected to attend hospital and return to jail 3 months
later left unsupervised kovski sold his apartment and used the proceeds to obtain a fake passport and other
official documents under the name Jose Marco de Diaz he caught a bus to Warsaw entered
northern Europe and passed through Germany Belgium and France after 30 hours of straight travel
he bordered a ferry to England he entered the country as a tourist but remained there as an illegal
immigrant in October 1996 kunowski arrived in London by coach with just 500 he assumed a Portuguese identity and
found work as a dry cleaner kovski continued his reign of terror in London stalking girls as they had it
home in their school uniforms he wasn't able to carry out his full intentions until Thursday May 22
1997 7 months after he fled Poland that day he encountered 12-year-old Katarina cona for 5 years after her murder kovski
avoided police detection until he raped Ari the Korean student and his fingerprints and DNA revealed the
truth kunowski was charged with Katarina's murder and his trial began in March 2004 the jury was not allowed to know
about kovski history of violent rapes that dated back to the 1970s one of his polish victims was even
willing to travel to England to testify against him but was refused the opportunity despite forensic evidence
linking kovski to Katarina's murder and trich cona positively identifying kunowski he professed his innocence and
claimed it was a case of mistaken identity stating I don't know this girl he also insisted that he didn't
know the street where Katarina had lived the jury deliberated for 2 and a half hours before finding kovski guilty
for the murder of Katarina cona the presiding judge told kunowski you took the life of a child
who was just beginning to enjoy what this country had to offer her and her family as refugees from hardship
abroad it was a life of great promise you ended it in circumstances of great violence and
Terror I would be failing in my duty in light of the evidence about your Behavior both in Poland and this country
if I did not ensure you spent the rest of your life in prison kunowski sat passively as he was
sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole when TR and Jacina cona heard the
jury's verdict they shouted yes TR later told the Press I had finally beaten the devil I
knew this man could never again do to anyone else what he had done to my angel in a statement read by police
jacqu Lina said today I do not feel happy I wish that I was not giving this statement and
that Catarina was still here by my side knowing her killer is in prison is not enough for me I hope he suffers
every minute of the rest of his life I hope that this evil murderer Burns in hell when Andre kunowski fled Poland he
was known to have committed at least 30 sex crimes including 17 rapes and eight attempted rapes as well as attempted
murder authorities believe he was likely responsible for upwards of 70 offenses in both Poland and
England he was described by the British police and prosecution as one of the most danger ous and prolific sex
offenders they had ever encountered one detective remarked when kunowski wasn't incarcerated he had been committing
offenses Andre kunowski was a man described as completely without remorse Katarina con's family was
shocked that someone like kovski wound up free to kill in England according to the Daily Telegraph
sex crimes received a little publicity in communist era Poland as antisocial crimes in general were kept out of the
press prisoners also outnumbered prison beds 3 to one there just wasn't room for
kunowski to be incarcerated repeatedly allowing him to be released or escape to reaffirmed by the time poish authorities
realized kovski had fled during his medical leave he was already long gone an arrest by force order was
issued polish authorities claimed they searched diligently for kunowski visiting his family friends and other
associates during their hunt but kow's mother denied she was ever spoken to about her son's
whereabouts she said that she received calls from kovski in London upwards of three times a day she knew he was there
and had even visited him she also had a collection of Mother's Day and birthday cards he'd
sent her during those years in them he described picking berries in Birmingham working with a
tailor in Manchester and wrote about his dry cleaning work and home in Acton West
London DNA found on a bed at kun's final crime scene in Poland was a confirmed match had he never been given the
opportunity to flee before facing trial for this attack he would have absolutely
been found guilty and incarcerated upon his arrival in England as a tourist kovski was not
fingerprinted and didn't need to undergo a background check the day after he killed Katarina
cona kovski fled west of London to ladbury and took up work on a strawberry farm when he was caught stealing from
his employers kunowski was arrested for theft neither his fingerprints or his DNA were taken at the
time when authorities realized that he had overstayed in England Kowski was handed over to immigration officials and
sent to a Detention Center in Oxford during his two months there kunowski used his fraudulent
identification documents to apply for citizenship on the grounds of economic hardship in his
homeland while his application was being considered kovski was set free although his application was
ultimately refused kovski temporary release allowed him to return to London where he disappeared and was able to
live in obscurity years later in 2002 kunowski was tracked down again found to be an
illegal overstayer it was ordered that he be deported once again his Prince and DNA
weren't taken kovski was told to present himself for deportation but was a no-show days after he was supposed to be
deported kovski raped Ari the Korean student polish authorities had issued an international warrant for Andre kovski
through Interpol it included his photograph and fingerprints British authorities claimed
they circulated copies of the prints from the Katarina cona crime scene through Interpol yet for undisclosed
reasons they were never connected to the Polish warrant pertaining to Andre kovski kunowski remained at large and
even managed to use his forged documents to receive a publicly funded heart bypass at Hammer Smith
Hospital a spokesperson for the United Kingdom's home office the lead government department for immigration
and passports said it is a matter of great concern that this individual with such a serious criminal history managed
to get into this country and that his background was not uncovered when he came to our
Attention our system has been completely overhauled since then all suspected Asylum Seekers are
now electronically fingerprinted on entry and these details are then fed into a European warning index which
would alert us to criminal activity in September 2009 52-year-old Andre kovski died in prison from heart
failure prior to his death he was questioned in relation to several unsolved disappearances of girls in
Poland and England he took any involvement he might have had in these other crimes to the
Grave the loss of Katarina cona caused irreparable damage to her family it is not very easy to put into
words how I feel Katarina's mother Jac Lina explained it is really hard to get up in
the morning and face a new day it is hard to go to bed in the evening the grief anger and hate that
manifested following their daughter's murder was so overwhelming it led to Jacina and triche
divorcing at the time of Andre kow's trial Katarina would have been 18 years old those who knew her had no doubt that
had she not crossed his path she would have been accepted into University and on her way to achieve her dream of
becoming a Pianist jacquelina visits her daughter's grave almost every day and still buys
her birthday and Christmas presents each year quote I talk to Katarina every day we
say good night to our children don't we so I always say good night to my daughter TR cona regretted chasing after
Andre kovski rather than checking on Katarina first he relived at this moment repeatedly believing his daughter would
have survived if he'd reached her sooner TR admitted this decision drove him close to
Suicide he later found out that on the day Katarina had died she had learned that she was at the top of her class for
English TR believes Katarina opened the door to kovski because she thought it was her Daddy coming home and she
couldn't wait to tell him the good [Music] [Music] news [Music]

Case 273: The Beast of Mława

*** Content warnings: Child victims, serial rapist, stalking ***

When the Koneva family fled to England to escape the war-torn Balkans, their hopes for a peaceful new beginning were soon shattered. In May 1997, an unknown intruder entered their London home and claimed the life of 12-year-old Katerina Koneva. The subsequent investigation spanned multiple countries and unravelled a frightening and prolific figure known as “The Beast.”

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Milly Raso Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources, please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-273-the-beast-of-mlawa

Brief Summary

The episode recounts the murder of Katarina Cona and the investigation that led to the arrest of serial offender Andre Kovski.

Key points

A Family's Tragic Day. On May 22, 1997, TR Cona's life changed forever when he returned home to find his daughter in danger.
The Horrific Attack. TR Cona discovers his daughter, Katarina, unconscious and fights to save her life.
A Father's Despair. TR Cona is wrongfully suspected of murdering his daughter amid a chaotic investigation.
The Hunt for a Killer. Despite extensive evidence, the investigation into Katarina's murder leads to dead ends.
Kovksi's Capture. Two men outside the house managed to catch Kovksi after the girl's cries for help.
Kovksi's Release. Despite his dangerous history, the courts ruled for Kovksi's medical leave for surgery.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This is not a man, it's a monster without feelings.

TR Cona describing his daughter's killer.

11:39WatchFeb 24, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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