Naperville Mom Guilty Of Brutal Child Murders

NAPERVILLE, IL — After a more than two-week-long bench trial, DuPage County Judge Robert Miller found 45-year-old Elzbieta Plackowska guilty in the horrific 2012 stabbing deaths of her son Justin, 7, and Olivia Dworakowski, a 5-year-old girl she was babysitting. Plackowska stabbed her son more than 100 times and slit both children's throats. She also killed two dogs inside the Dworakowski family home.

Miller found Plackowska guilty of ten counts of first-degree murder and two counts of aggravated cruelty for the dog's deaths.

The horrific crimes were discovered after Naperville police responded to a report of a woman who had been robbed just after 11 p.m. Oct. 30, 2012. They arrived at a home where they found Plackowska covered in blood.

At around the same time, Naperville police officers responded to a call from Marta Dworakowski requesting help locating her daughter, Olivia. Plackowska had been babysitting Olivia at her Quin Court home. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Officers who arrived at the Dworakowski home discovered the bodies of Justin and Olivia, along with the two dogs — what DuPage County State's Attorney Robert Berlin called "a scene of unimaginable horror."

Berlin said investigators found that at some point during the evening, Plackowska had told the children to get ready for bed. "Instead of getting ready for bed however, the children began jumping on the bed in the master bedroom," Berlin said in a news release.

Armed with a kitchen knife, "Plackowska went to the master bedroom and began stabbing her son repeatedly about his entire body," Berlin said. "She then stabbed Olivia repeatedly throughout her body as well and killed the the two family dogs." She then drove to a family friend's home, where her older son was staying.

The Polish native, who claimed to hear voices commanding her to kill the children and suffer from hallucinations, has been held without bond since Nov. 1, 2012.

“This afternoon, following two and a half weeks of evidence and testimony, Judge Miller correctly found that Elzbieta Plackowska fully understood her criminal conduct at the time she brutally murdered Justin and Olivia,” Berlin said. “They were two beautiful children with their whole lives ahead of them and I continue to offer my sincerest condolences to their surviving family members. This was an extremely disturbing case for all those involved. I would like to thank the Naperville Police Department for their outstanding work on this case as well as my trial partners Mike Pawl and Nicole Wilkes-English."

Plackowska faces a mandatory sentence of natural life in prison without the possibility of parole. She is due to appear in court for pre-sentencing on Nov. 21.

More from Patch:

• Naperville Mom Killed Kids Out Of Anger: Psychiatrist
  
• Naperville Mom Accused Of Stabbing Children To Death To Launch Insanity Defense
• Police Find 2 Children Stabbed to Death in Naperville Home

Main photo: Elzbieta Plackowska/DuPage County Sheriff's Office