Pair jailed for 2011 murder of Huddersfield father Dariusz Michalowski

Two men who evaded justice for almost a decade after torturing and murdering a father have been jailed for life.

Adam Towlinksi, 39, and Ernest Weber, 46, attacked Dariusz Michalowski at his flat on Macaulay Road in Huddersfield on 13 March 2011.

They beat him and kicked him, forced him to perform a sex act on a dog and eat the contents of an ashtray.

After assaulting him with a knife, Tolwinski stabbed Mr Michalowski in the neck.

Following his death, the pair attempted to clean up the scene and took Mr Michalowski's body to a garage they owned before burying his body in farmland near Mixenden, Halifax. They were helped by Weber's brother, Piotr Weber.

Mr Michalowski's body lay undiscovered until an associate of the killers told police where it was buried in December 2020.

Tolwinski, Ernest Weber and Piotr Weber were arrested and faced a lengthy trial at Leeds Crown Court, during which jurors heard the Weber brothers had connections with Mr Michalowski's family in Poland. They had worked together casually in Huddersfield.

On the night they attacked him, Tolwinski and Ernest Weber accused Mr Michalowski of passing on information about crimes they had been involved in.

Prosecutor Richard Horwell KC told the trial Mr Michalowski was "beaten, degraded and humiliated" over the course of several hours before being killed. 

Tolwinski and Ernest Weber were found guilty of murder, perverting the course of justice and preventing a lawful burial. Both were jailed for life with a minimum term of 33 years.

Piotr Weber, 43, was convicted of perverting the course of justice and preventing a lawful burial. He was jailed for six years.

In a statement, Mr Michalowski's wife Edyta spoke of the impact of her husband's disappearance.

She told the court how their daughter asked Santa for her father's return. She said: "My child was constantly waiting for a phone call from her dad but to no avail...She would very often wake up at night crying thinking her dad was lying next to her...Things became more upsetting when we learned my husband had been murdered in such a cruel way. This was a terrible wrench and huge shock. We could not get over it.

"Up until the day she received this distressing news she hoped her dad would return home safe and sound...Every year my daughter would send a letter to Santa asking for help in finding her dad."

David Holderness, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Dariusz Michalowski suffered unthinkable and inhumane levels of abuse before he was cruelly murdered by Adam Tolwinski and Ernest Weber.

"Their sadism was laid bare when they tortured Dariusz before killing him – and in a final act of callousness, disposing of his body with fellow defendant Piotr Weber.

"The CPS worked hand-in-glove with West Yorkshire police to unpick the web of lies the defendants had spun to cover up their crime, leading to the conviction of all three men."

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