The Murder of Adam Kwaśny and the Wrongful Conviction of Czesław Kowalczyk

Adam Kwaśny, a former Polish riding champion and equestrian instructor, was shot and killed on December 28, 1998, on the road leading to a riding stable in Gdańsk-Orunia. The murder became not only a contract-killing case but also one of Poland's best-known wrongful convictions after Czesław Kowalczyk was repeatedly convicted of a crime he did not commit.

Adam Kwaśny

Kwaśny was a competitive equestrian and trainer who was on his way to conduct riding lessons when he was killed. Polish reporting later established that the murder was linked to his relationship with the former partner of a gangster known by the alias “Gajowy.” Contemporary and retrospective accounts describe threats connected to that relationship before the killing.

Two hired attackers waited near the stable and carried out the shooting. Later judicial and journalistic reporting identified the killing as a contract murder rather than a spontaneous confrontation.

The wrong man is convicted

Czesław Kowalczyk was arrested in January 1999 and accused of being the killer. Kwaśny's partner initially identified him, but later sought to withdraw that identification. Kowalczyk also maintained that he had an alibi. Nevertheless, he was convicted twice during the prolonged proceedings: first receiving a life sentence and later a 25-year prison sentence.

Kowalczyk spent more than twelve years deprived of liberty. He must not be described as one of Kwaśny's killers: his murder conviction was ultimately overturned, and a Gdańsk court acquitted him in August 2012.

How the case changed

The breakthrough came after evidence from people connected to the contract-killing network redirected investigators toward the men who had actually carried out the murder. Polish news agency PAP reported that the two hired killers had been known within the criminal milieu and that an intermediary eventually implicated them after years of silence.

The renewed proceedings established a different chain of responsibility: the hired shooters were prosecuted for carrying out the killing, while Mariusz N., known as “Gajowy,” was convicted for ordering it. PAP's 25-year retrospective reports a 15-year sentence for the organizer and separate 15-year sentences for the hired killers.

Kowalczyk is cleared

On August 21, 2012, the Gdańsk District Court acquitted Kowalczyk of the murder charge. TVN24 reported that he had spent 12 years and three months imprisoned after the earlier life and 25-year sentences. The acquittal formally separated him from the homicide that had defined his life for more than a decade.

In 2016, Kowalczyk received approximately PLN 3 million in compensation for the wrongful imprisonment. Compensation could not restore the years he lost, but it formally recognized the scale of the injustice.

Why this case matters

The Kwaśny case shows two distinct criminal-justice failures and outcomes in the same file: a real contract murder whose participants were eventually convicted, and the wrongful prosecution of an innocent man. Treating Kowalczyk as an offender after his acquittal would repeat the central factual error of the original case.

Timeline

1. Dec. 28, 1998
   Adam Kwaśny is murdered

   The riding champion and trainer is killed on the road to a stable in Gdańsk-Orunia.

2. Jan. 1999
   Czesław Kowalczyk is arrested

   Investigators accuse him of carrying out the killing.

3. 2003–2008
   Wrongful convictions

   Kowalczyk is convicted in successive proceedings, first receiving life imprisonment and later a 25-year sentence.

4. 2011
   Breakthrough evidence emerges

   Information from a participant in the contract-killing network identifies other men as the actual perpetrators.

5. Aug. 21, 2012
   Kowalczyk is acquitted

   A Gdańsk court clears him of Kwaśny's murder after more than twelve years behind bars.

6. Later proceedings
   Contract-killing participants convicted

   The hired killers and the man found to have ordered the murder receive prison sentences.

7. 2016
   Compensation awarded

   Kowalczyk receives roughly PLN 3 million for his wrongful imprisonment.

Current status

Solved / adjudicated. Adam Kwaśny's murder was ultimately attributed through criminal proceedings to a contract-killing scheme whose participants were convicted. Czesław Kowalczyk was acquitted and is an exoneree, not a perpetrator.