Woman found dead in house in Amstelveens

Wioletta Rogozińska, a 50-year-old woman of Polish origin, was found dead on the evening of Tuesday, 19 September 2017, inside a home on Prunuslaan in Amstelveen. She lived there with others in a first-floor apartment and worked independently as a cleaner for several clients in the area. Wioletta was known as someone who was always on time for her appointments. When she failed to show up and people were unable to reach her properly, police were alerted. At around 22:45, her body was found in her bedroom. She was lying beside her bed, had a bloody nose and there were bloodstains on the bed. According to the medical examiner, the position in which she was found did not fit a natural death. A post-mortem examination later showed that Wioletta had been strangled and that she had probably already been dead for 24 to 36 hours when she was discovered. She had last been seen alive around noon on Monday, 18 September. Personal belongings were missing from the home, including gold jewellery. Suspicion quickly focused on Damian H., a 43-year-old man from Poland who had been in a relationship with Wioletta. After her death, he had returned to Poland. Because the other residents of the house had alibis, Dutch police asked the Polish authorities to arrest him and hand him over. Damian H. was arrested in Poland in October 2017, reportedly in a karaoke bar, and was later extradited to the Netherlands. During the investigation, he gave changing statements. At first, he said that Wioletta had stopped breathing by accident after he had pressed her against him. Later, he claimed that he wanted to free her from her grief after the death of her mother. He also said that her death had resulted from a sex game that had gone wrong. The court did not accept his explanations. Premeditation could not be proven, so Damian H. was acquitted of murder, but he was convicted of manslaughter. The Public Prosecution Service demanded a twelve-year prison sentence, and the court imposed that same sentence. Damian H. also had to pay almost €20,000 in compensation to Wioletta’s son. The