A Darnozel butcher accused of murdering his wife has been arrested, but no case has yet been handed down

Contrary to expectations, no verdict was delivered in the Curia on Tuesday in the case of János N., a Darnozel butcher, accused of killing and dismembering his wife, Judith, in 2014.

The defendant, who was defending himself on leave of absence, did not want to attend and told his lawyer. However, during the trial, after the break, the judge announced that a decision had been made to arrest John N. As she said, the man is accused of a crime of such gravity that he could legitimately worry about trying to escape, hide.

Last fall, János N., who had previously been acquitted of the murder charge, was found guilty at second instance in the Győr Trial Chamber on charges of causing bodily harm. He was later sentenced to 7 years in prison as a collective punishment. The case continued at the Mansion because the prosecutor requested aggravation, the defendant’s attorney for acquittal and the victim’s family said: they were committing homicide.

• Judith was murdered in May 2014.
• Her murderer, her husband, John N., was charged with the murder, but the court acquitted him twice for lack of evidence.
• Last October, in the Győr Sentencing Chamber, János N. was found guilty at second instance of the bodily injury charges and sentenced to 7 years in prison, including the 29 months previously served.
• The physiotherapist Judit and the butcher János were married in 1996 and had two children. The family lived in Darnózselin, in the house the man eventually installed a professional meat processing room with machines and incense. Their relationship deteriorated in 2001 due to a jealous dispute, Judith finally filed for divorce, but for a time they still lived in a common home. Their relationship raged, the man became increasingly violent, and she eventually abused her wife. Due to this case, in September 2011 a criminal proceeding was initiated against him in which he was found guilty but only released on parole. Due to disputes over the location of the children and the division of property, the divorce dragged on and Judit, fearing that her husband would abuse her again, moved to Győr in 2014, but as no decision was made on the children for a long time, he decided to return to Darnózseli, the family home. This was no longer the case and a few days after informing everyone of her decision, she disappeared.
• The court acquitted John N. twice so that it could be proven that on the day of the murder, Judit, who worked as a physical therapist, waited more than an hour and stopped in the parking lot so that the victim could not leave the yard. Based on the cell phone information, it was also found that both had their phones on the same route from the office to the defendant’s house, Judit’s DNA was also found by the police in the trunk of the defendant’s car, that of another it would be very nice clean. Two protected witnesses also testified in the case: one saw that on the night of the murder, the defendant dragged a body into the house’s incense box, and another saw the man sprinkle something from a bag onto the Jelly Meadow. The remains of Judith’s body were later found here.
• The man’s alibi also turned out to be a lie: The man claimed he was with his sister at the time of the murder, the woman confirmed. Later, information from the cell revealed that the accused must have been elsewhere during this period.

On Tuesday, the representative of the Attorney General began his speech at the Curia, saying that it is regrettable that domestic violence, which ends in murder, is so common in Hungary. According to him, the Győr Sentencing Board correctly established that the accused was guilty, and in the second instance the appropriate logical conclusions were drawn, which were previously omitted. According to the prosecutor, they were not wrong in the classification either, that is, N. János was not convicted of murder. On the other hand, he considered that the level of punishment was slightly illegal, that is, 7 years in prison, which would include the 29 months previously passed. He stressed that the way the body was destroyed was extremely offensive. He asked that the second instance sentence be modified to the extent that the sentence was aggravated.

“It’s a murder for a crime”

said the victim’s lawyer, András Gál, who mostly agreed with the prosecutor, but not entirely. He stressed that the sentences handed down so far were unacceptable to Judith’s family. According to him, it is not necessary to record on video that in such a case, where there is so much evidence, it is gathered that the accused not only considers somehow was involved in the murder. According to him, it is logical not only that John N. committed the crime because the man listened to most during the process, but because of the little he said, it always turned out later that it was simply not true.

“Why did the defendant have to destroy Judith’s body?” I ask. If he hadn’t committed the murder, he would have gotten into trouble, so there is no reasonable explanation for why he cut up and burned his wife’s remains. “He wanted to arrange the death of the victim in such a way that there was no evidence that it happened, the victim ‘disappeared’, but not for an obvious crime, because he knew exactly that he would be the number one suspect then,” András Gál said.

According to the lawyer, it is incomprehensible and unacceptable to the family of the victim that, according to the court, the intention of the perpetrator was not, or at least was not certain, to cause the death of Judit.

The defendant’s lawyer, László Jován, did not add much to what he said in the Győr Trial Chamber. Regarding the second instance verdict, he said it was said that no criminal conduct could be established. According to him, the Győr Sentencing Board made a subjective decision in the case of János N. under pressure from the public mood. The lawyer also questioned the motive, as he put it, with many couples divorcing each other. According to him, the debate between János N. and Judit was intended in part to magnify the press.

A verdict on the case is expected in a week.

We have filmed on Judith’s story before.