A pensioner was sawn into 27 pieces with a hacksaw and his body parts dumped across a city, a jury has heard.
Marcin Majerkiewicz, 42, is accused of murdering Stuart Everett, 67, whose lower torso and thighs were found by a member of the public, wrapped in cling film and hidden in an abandoned bunker in Kersal Dale nature reserve, in Salford on April 4 last year, Manchester Crown Court was told.
The defendant was caught on CCTV making numerous trips dumping Mr Everett’s body parts, it is alleged.
Majerkiewicz denies murder and manslaughter.
Jason Pitter KC, began opening the case for the prosecution to the jury of six women and six men, with the first discovery of body parts in the nature reserve.
“For obvious reasons it was not known who it was,” he said.
“What was apparent, it transpired, was that it must have been a man who had been sawn into pieces.
“As you will hear, 27 pieces.
“That initial gruesome finding was to trigger investigations that led to, a number of weeks later, April 27 and 28 and May 1, further parts, including parts of his skull and ear, over various locations in the Greater Manchester area.
“This case is about who that man was.
“Who it is that was responsible for murdering him, cutting him into pieces and depositing his body in various locations?
“The investigations, the prosecution say, was able to identify those two things: That the body was that of a Stuart Everett, indeed a man of 67 years of age at the time he died. The person responsible for killing him was the defendant, Marcin Majerkiewicz.”
The court heard both men lived in a house in the Winton area of Salford and there is “good evidence” to suggest Mr Everett was killed on the evening and into the morning of the 27th to the 28th of March of last year.
Mr Everett was of Polish heritage and was born with the name Roman Ziemacki and he had a brother, Richard Ziemacki, who lived in the Derby area.
He lived at a shared house at 95 Worsely Road, in Winton, as the sole tenant, responsible for the rent but sub-let rooms in the property, which he sub-let to others including Majerkiewicz.
An increase in rent may have led to “tension” between the two men, the court heard.
Another Polish man, Michal Polchowski, also lived at the same address at the time of Mr Everett’s killing and dismemberment, but Mr Pitter said Majerkiewicz was solely responsible.
The prosecutor said after the initial torso find police scoured CCTV from the area around Kersal Dale on April 4 2024.
Detectives found, two days before, around 5pm, a man was seen entering the pathway nearby carrying a heavy blue bag, walking to the wooded area where the body part was found.
The same person was seen to emerge a short while later holding the bag folded up.
Majerkiewicz was traced and arrested on suspicion of murder as he matched the man in the CCTV footage, the court heard.
He had on him two mobile phones, one belonging to Mr Everett along with the dead man’s bank cards, the court was told.
When police searched Majerkiewicz’s address they found evidence of bloodstaining and a clean-up operation, showing “something terrible had happened in that house”, Mr Pitter added.
Analysis of Majerkiewicz’s phone movements and CCTV footage showed him making a number of journeys with bags before returning, the court heard.
At one location, Chesterfield Close in Winton, nine packages of body parts were recovered, including many internal organs and Mr Everett’s genitalia, the court was told.
Recoveries at Linneyshaw Colliery Wood included body parts wrapped in cling film, containing bones and muscle tissue.
At Blackleach Reservoir a further six body parts were found, including parts of the skull, scalp and left ear and parts of the skin from Mr Everett’s face.
Jurors were told only around one third of Mr Everett’s body was recovered.
Back at their home address, officers found blood-staining in the kitchen and a piece of cut-out carpet from the defendant’s bedroom, the court was told.
Pathology of the skull fragments showed Mr Everett had been subject to a “sustained, severe blunt force physical assault”, with repeated blows to his head, shattering and fracturing his skull.
Analysis showed dismemberment of the body was consistent with the use of a hacksaw and took place after death, but Mr Pitter added: “It is possible though, that some of the cuts occurred whilst Stuart Everett was alive.”
The trial continues.