Status boundary: final sentences establish the roles adjudicated for three participants. They do not prove the pending allegations against Marián Kočner or Alena Zsuzsová, and earlier outcomes that the Supreme Court annulled are not presented as current final judgments.
The murders in Veľká Mača
Kuciak and Kušnírová were killed inside their home in the village of Veľká Mača, in Slovakia’s Galanta district. Their bodies were discovered on 25 February 2018. Kuciak reported for Aktuality.sk and investigated corruption, tax fraud and the relationships surrounding powerful business and political figures. Police said the most probable motive was connected to his journalistic work; that description is attributed to investigators rather than treated as a finding against every later defendant.
The crime was a double murder, not only an attack on a journalist. Kušnírová was killed in her own home alongside her fiancé. A victim-aware account therefore preserves both names and avoids reducing her to a detail in the history of press freedom.
The killings triggered mass demonstrations across Slovakia. They became a national crisis over public integrity, investigative journalism and confidence in institutions, and the political upheaval included the resignation of Prime Minister Robert Fico in March 2018. That wider impact explains the case’s international significance, but it does not alter the narrower evidentiary question of individual criminal responsibility.
The three final participant sentences
The most settled part of the record concerns Miroslav Marček, Tomáš Szabó and Zoltán Andruskó. Marček admitted carrying out the shootings. Szabó was convicted for his part in the operation. Each is serving a 25-year prison term. Andruskó admitted acting as an intermediary and received a 15-year term.
These sentences matter because they establish that the murders were planned and carried out through more than one participant. They also mark the boundary of what can safely be called final. A conviction for carrying out, assisting or arranging a crime does not automatically identify the person who commissioned it.
Contemporary accounts describe Andruskó as a cooperating witness in the later proceedings. His testimony has been important to the prosecution and challenged by defense lawyers. The archive reports the final sentence he received and labels disputed testimony as testimony, rather than converting it into an independent judicial finding.
Why the commissioning question remains unresolved
Prosecutors accuse businessman Marián Kočner of ordering the murder through Alena Zsuzsová. Both deny the charge. Their procedural history is unusually complex: trial-level outcomes have been reviewed and annulled, requiring new hearings rather than producing a stable final answer.
In May 2023, the Specialized Criminal Court acquitted Kočner while convicting Zsuzsová and imposing a 25-year term. Those outcomes did not become the archive’s final classification. On 21 May 2025, Slovakia’s Supreme Court annulled the challenged verdict, citing unclear factual findings, incomplete presentation of necessary evidence and failure to address relevant circumstances. It returned the case to a different panel.
An annulled acquittal is not a conviction, and an annulled conviction is not a final conviction. Both defendants therefore remain described according to their current procedural position: accused in a retrial and entitled to the presumption of innocence on these charges.
The third trial in 2026
A newly constituted panel of the Specialized Criminal Court in Pezinok opened the third trial on 26 January 2026. The court kept encrypted Threema messages in the case file after defense lawyers challenged their use. The new proceeding also addresses separate allegations involving plans to kill prosecutors; this page does not merge those alleged plots with the adjudicated facts of the Kuciak and Kušnírová murders.
Hearings continued through the year. In May, Andruskó testified again and defense lawyers continued to contest his credibility. In June, the court expected testimony from Peter Tóth, who had organized surveillance of journalists for Kočner, including Kuciak. These were evidentiary steps in an active trial, not verdicts.
On 7 September 2026, Slovakia’s public broadcaster reported that the main hearing was continuing. The court was scheduled to replay a 2017 press conference at which Kuciak questioned Kočner and a later phone call between the two men. No final third-trial judgment was reported in the sources reviewed through 30 September 2026.
Evidence and courtroom boundaries
What the final record establishes
- Kuciak and Kušnírová were murdered at their home on 21 February 2018.
- Marček and Szabó are serving final 25-year prison terms for their roles.
- Andruskó received a final 15-year term for acting as an intermediary.
- The Supreme Court annulled the challenged 2023 verdict in May 2025 and ordered a new trial before a different panel.
- The third trial began in January 2026 and was still hearing evidence in September.
What was not finally resolved
- Whether Kočner commissioned the murders.
- Whether Zsuzsová carried out the alleged ordering role.
- The final judicial interpretation of the communications, witness testimony and other evidence being re-examined.
- The outcome of the third trial and any later appeals.
Why the archive classifies the case as unsolved / partially adjudicated
Calling the case wholly unsolved would ignore three final sentences. Calling it fully solved would imply that the commissioning question had received a final judgment, when it had not. “Unsolved / partially adjudicated” records both parts of the verified position.
The classification is procedural, not rhetorical. It should be reviewed after the Specialized Criminal Court issues a new judgment and after any appeal changes or confirms that result. Until then, the most accurate description recognizes established participant responsibility while leaving the contested ordering allegations open.
The case’s public significance
Kuciak’s reporting examined the overlap of money, influence and public power. His murder made the safety of investigative journalists inseparable from Slovakia’s debate over corruption and institutional independence. CPJ records him as the first journalist it documented as killed in relation to his work in Slovakia.
That significance can create pressure to produce a simple ending. The court record does not yet allow one. A responsible archive can explain why the murders changed Slovak public life while refusing to decide the pending case outside the courtroom.
Verified timeline
- 21 February 2018 — Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová are murdered at their home in Veľká Mača.
- 25 February 2018 — Their bodies are discovered.
- December 2019 — Zoltán Andruskó receives a 15-year sentence after admitting an intermediary role.
- 2020 — Miroslav Marček and Tomáš Szabó receive prison terms; Marček’s term is increased to 25 years and Szabó’s final 25-year sentence is later confirmed.
- June 2021 — The Supreme Court overturns the first acquittals of Kočner and Zsuzsová and orders a retrial.
- May 2023 — The retrial acquits Kočner and convicts Zsuzsová; the outcome is appealed.
- 21 May 2025 — The Supreme Court annuls the challenged verdict and sends the matter to a different panel.
- 26 January 2026 — The third trial begins at the Specialized Criminal Court in Pezinok.
- 7 September 2026 — The main hearing continues, with recorded interactions between Kuciak and Kočner scheduled for examination.
Frequently asked questions
When were Ján Kuciak and Martina Kušnírová murdered?
They were killed at their home in Veľká Mača on 21 February 2018. Their bodies were found four days later.
Has anyone been convicted for the murders?
Yes. Miroslav Marček and Tomáš Szabó are serving 25-year terms, and intermediary Zoltán Andruskó received a 15-year term.
Why is the case not marked fully solved?
The alleged commissioning responsibility remained unresolved. A third trial of Marián Kočner and Alena Zsuzsová was continuing in September 2026.
What did the Slovak Supreme Court decide in May 2025?
It annulled the challenged 2023 verdict because of identified errors and sent the case to a different panel for a new trial.
Does an annulled verdict prove guilt or innocence?
No. Annulment removes the challenged outcome and requires the issues to be decided again; this page does not substitute an earlier or pending ruling for a final current judgment.
Was the third trial still underway in September 2026?
Yes. Slovakia's Specialized Criminal Court was continuing the main hearing, with evidence being replayed and examined.
Sources and source-quality review
The account cross-checks the procedural record through Slovakia’s public broadcaster using Supreme Court and TASR reporting, then uses CPJ and OCCRP for the victim, press-freedom and retrial context. Final sentences are kept separate from allegations and testimony in the continuing third trial.
- Committee to Protect Journalists — Ján Kuciak case recordUpdated through February 2026 · murders, final participant sentences and procedural history
- STVR / TASR — Supreme Court annuls the 2023 verdict21 May 2025 · reasons for annulment, reassignment and final participant sentences
- STVR / TASR — Third trial begins26 January 2026 · current defendants and new-panel proceeding
- OCCRP and Investigative Center of Ján Kuciak — Third-trial opening27 January 2026 · evidentiary dispute, defense position and hearing schedule
- STVR / TASR — Witness testimony continues26 May 2026 · Andruskó testimony and defense challenge
- STVR / TASR — Main hearing continues7 September 2026 · current hearing status and scheduled evidence
- OCCRP — Eight-year commemoration and unresolved commissioning question21 February 2026 · victims, social impact and current status
Status note
Reviewed through 30 September 2026. The classification recognizes the three final participant sentences while preserving the presumption of innocence for defendants in the continuing third trial. It should be updated after a new judgment and any appeal.
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