Mom hid knife, paid son’s way to Poland after he fatally stabbed roommate in 2013: prosecutors
Mateusz Zabrzenski is charged in the death of Sarah Krasilova, who was found inside a Dunning apartment.
When a bloodied Mateusz Zabrzenski went to his mother in 2013 to tell her he’d stabbed his roommate, prosecutors say she didn’t call the authorities.
She allegedly took the knife — and bought her son a plane ticket out of the country.
Zabrzenski appeared Saturday before a Cook County judge more than six years after his ex-roommate, Sarah Krasilova, was found dead inside their Dunning neighborhood apartment.
The 31-year-old was ordered held without bail on charges of first-degree murder, after being extradited from Poland Thursday.
Zabrzenski, born in Poland, lived in the 6500 block of West Addison with Krasilova, a 24-year-old from the Czech Republic, Cook County prosecutors said during Zabrzenski’s bail hearing.
In the early morning hours of June 24, 2013, Zabrzenski and Krasilova got into a “loud and heated argument that could be heard by neighbors,” assistant state’s attorney John Brassil said.
The argument escalated into a physical confrontation in which Zabrzenski allegedly strangled and stabbed Krasilova multiple times, Brassil said.
After the stabbing, Zabrzenski allegedly went to his mother’s apartment and admitted to stabbing Krasilova, Brassil said. His hands were bloody, and he gave his mother the butcher’s knife he used in the attack so she could hide it, Brassil said.
Zabrzenski asked his mother for help fleeing to Poland, so she borrowed $2,380 to buy him a one-way plane ticket, Brassil said.
Zabrzenski texted one of his friends after the attack and told her stabbed Krasilova to death during an argument, Brassil said. He allegedly told her he was at the Polish Consulate getting a passport so he could flee the country.
That friend met up with Zabrzenski at his mother’s home in Chicago as they were leaving for his flight, Brassil said. The friend yelled at Zabrzenski, saying he needed to report the attack, but he ignored her and left for his flight to Krakow, Poland, Brassil said.
The friend called Chicago police and met them at Krasilova’s apartment that evening for a wellbeing check, Brassil said. They found Krasilova dead in her bedroom, covered in blood with stab wounds to her head, neck, chest and abdomen.
The Cook County medical examiner’s office also noted ligature marks around her neck and evidence of blunt trauma to her head and face.
Zabrzenski allegedly contacted two other friends that day, telling one of them about the attack and asking for a ride to the Consulate, police said. He told the other friend that he “may have killed Sarah Krasilova” and asked for money to go to Poland, police said.
Chicago police and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office requested Zabrzenski’s extradition from Poland in May 2014, Brassil said. He fought extradition, but it was granted by the Polish government earlier this year.
Authorities could not immediately provide information on the whereabouts of Zabrzenski’s mother. He’s due in court again Monday.