Zbigniew Soj jailed for at least 31 years for Bradford murder of Bori Benko

Zbigniew Soj, 24, was imprisoned for 14 years to run concurrently for attempting to murder her housemate Klaudia Rogozinka.

Soj was drunk and depressed and said ‘some demons got to me’ when he knifed Miss Benko, 24, and stabbed and attempted to strangle and smother Miss Rogozinka, 21.

All three were living in separate flats in Sherborne Road, Great Horton, Bradford, when the young women were attacked at night in their beds in the early hours of November 21 last year.

Police guarding the murder scene

Soj took two knives from the kitchen at the accommodation, sharpened one of them, and stabbed each of the women multiple times, prosecutor Mark McKone QC told Bradford Crown Court today.

The court heard that Soj had been drinking heavily when he attacked the women at The Discovery Centre building between 2.46am and 4.38am.

Miss Rogozinka phoned 999 after being stabbed nine times and said she was bleeding heavily. Then she began screaming when Soj came back into her room, shouting at him in Polish.

He told her he was suffering from depression and ‘jealous that other people can have normal lives and I can’t.’ He said he had got ‘smashed’ that night.

Mr McKone said Miss Benko was lying dead on her bedroom floor. She was almost naked and her body was smeared with blood. She had 40 stab injuries including to her back and chest.

She died from ‘catastrophic blood loss,’ the court was told and bone damage showed that some of the blows were delivered with severe force.

Soj was likely to have removed her clothing and there were indications of sexual activity although the scientist could not determine the exact nature of it.

Miss Rogozinka told the police she was in bed with her door unlocked when Soj ‘jumped towards her.’ He tried to strangle her and he put a pillow over her face until she felt dizzy. She too was stabbed, suffering wounds to her chest, shoulder and arm.

Soj told her he had murdered Bori because he was depressed.

Mr McKone said he stopped attacking Miss Rogozinka when she told him her family and friends needed her.

She had life-threatening injuries including a collapsed lung and she needed emergency surgery to insert a chest drain. She also had a blood transfusion.

Soj threw her phone out of the window and a knife was found outside the property.

He told the police at the scene: “I deserve to die right now. I was drunk. I have become a murderer.”

He later said he acted out of curiosity or jealousy, finding out what it was like to kill someone.

“She was such a good girl,” he said.

He went on to make no comment to the police but to speak to his psychiatrist about what had happened.

He said he went to the kitchen to get two knives and could recall little except moving Miss Benko’s clothing to touch her indecently.

Mr McKone said Soj had pleaded guilty to murder and attempted murder ahead of his trial.

Richard Wright QC, Soj’s barrister, said he had snuffed out a brilliant life and caused far-reaching devastation.

Bori’s mother asked questions as to why this had happened and Soj too had grappled with this and could not properly answer.

Although it may count for little he was ‘genuinely and absolutely sorry, ashamed and appalled by his behaviour.’ The psychiatric report contained admissions that aggravated Soj’s position considerably, Mr Wright conceded. He accepted there had been sexual contact during the killing. That was an indication of his true guilt and remorse.

Soj was suffering with a neurotic depressive illness at the time and had been drinking while on medication. He was still a young man with no previous convictions and of posi-tive good character until these ‘wicked’ offences.

He had always accepted he was responsible for the attack: the only issue had been fitness to plead.

Judge Jonathan Rose said Soj had no disagreement or dispute with the two young and innocent women. It was premeditated, extensive and brutal violence at a property pro-vided by a Christian organisation.

Miss Benko was to study theology and she spent much of her life in Bradford in and around the cathedral.

Bori Benko was a popular person with a bright future ahead

Miss Rogozinka had felt safe and secure at the accommodation until her life was shat-tered by the attack. After she rang the emergency services her dread and horror re-turned when he came back with a knife, Judge Rose said.

She had become isolated and had difficulty sleeping because of her ingrained fear. Her physical injuries had largely healed but she was conscious of the visible scarring she had.

Soj had been drinking heavily and had watched a violent horror film that night. He said he felt energised and had a feeling he was going to kill more than one person.

He sharpened a knife and took a second knife. He went into Miss Benko’s room and stabbed her.

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Vanessa Rolfe of the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team said: ‘This was an horrific and spontaneous attack on two young women as they slept in their own home.

‘Soj was someone they trusted and no-one could ever have predicted that he would do this.

‘Bori had her whole life ahead of her and this was cruelly taken away by Soj.

‘I welcome Soj’s guilty plea and sparing Klaudia and Bori’s family to have to go through a trial.  

‘I hope that Bori’s family and Klaudia find comfort and justice in today’s sentence. 

‘It’s positive news to see that Klaudia is recovering from her injuries and is now trying to move forward with her life.’