Security head suspected of lying to police as Polish mayor’s murder probed

Paweł Adamowicz, mayor of the northern Polish port city of Gdańsk, died last Monday from severe wounds inflicted by a knifeman during a high-profile annual fundraiser called the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity.

The head of security for the event is suspected of providing false information to police and of inciting others to make false statements, a spokeswoman for the District Prosecutor's Office in Gdańsk said on Monday.

The spokeswoman, Grażyna Wawryniuk, said prosecutors believed the man attempted to mislead investigators by claiming the attacker used a media badge to get past security guards and gain access to the stage where he subsequently knifed and fatally wounded Adamowicz.

The man in charge of security, identified only as Dariusz S. under Polish privacy laws, is suspected of attempting to persuade another security guard to lie to investigators, according to Wawryniuk.

The head of security faces up to eight years in prison if found guilty of the charges, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the 27-year-old knifeman, who was detained at the scene of the attack and subsequently charged with murder, has been identified as an ex-convict who was in the past convicted of armed robberies.

In the wake of the murder, investigators were following up on leads suggesting that the assailant, named as "Stefan W.," had psychiatric problems.

Poland’s prime minister, president and former heads of state and government on Saturday took part in a funeral service for the slain mayor, whose violent death shocked the country.

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Sunday called for mutual respect and an end to bitter political divisions in the country in the wake of the fatal stabbing.

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Source: TVP Info, IAR