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Double murderer appeals court ruling of life sentence

South Bohemian man could be 31st criminal now serving life in jail

January 30th, 2008 issue

By Radim Letovský

ČTK
Jaroslav Steinbauer, pictured at the regional court the day of his sentencing, where he reportedly yelled, "You are locking me up for something I have not done."
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For The Post
On a chilly winter night in 2003, a young couple walked through the dark and silent streets of České Budějovice. When the man, Jaroslav Steinbauer, decided he wanted a smoke, he and girlfriend Veronika Fáčková, 25, went to a store near a wooded area. After buying a pack of cigarettes, Steinbauer asked her to come with him into the forest, and she followed.
The next morning a passer-by found her body.           
The incident was the first of two murders for which Steinbauer, now 35, was sentenced to life in prison last month, a decision that is currently being appealed.   
“Jaroslav Steinbauer knew Veronika Fáčková, she was close to him. One month before the murder he wrote her a love letter,” said Daniela Přibylová, the public prosecutor in České Budějovice, adding that the woman had been looking for a sublet to share with him. “She undoubtedly liked him, trusted him and went with him to the deserted place. He used this situation, stepped behind her and strangled her to death with an unknown murder weapon, probably a purse strap.”
After killing her, Steinbauer stole Fáčková’s cell phone and used it to send SMS messages before selling it for roughly 1,200 Kč — actions which led to his arrest and prosecution for first-degree murder later that year. But Přibylová said the motive was more than just money.
“Another motive was paradoxically that she wanted to be with him; he disliked that idea and simply killed her,” she added. “He only used her because she was helping him and lending him money. It is true even though it may sound incomprehensible that somebody would kill a person for a stupid phone.”
Forming a pattern
In September 2003, Steinbauer was found not guilty due to a lack of evidence. Shortly after he was released from custody, the incident repeated itself. The story was the same, only this time the victim was a student named Lucie Černá, 16. Again, the young woman had been Steinbauer’s girlfriend. She was found dead of strangulation in a wooded area of České Budějovice in spring 2004.
The similarities between the incidents (location, method of strangulation and the fact that neither crime scene gave indications of a prolonged struggle) led investigators to believe the crimes were committed by the same person.
In late 2007, Steinbauer stood in front of the regional court of České Budějovice yet again. In December, the new presiding judge, Daniel Prouza, pronounced the verdict — life in prison.
“By the judgment of the court, the defendant committed both murders in cold blood, ruthlessly, treacherously and with no mercy toward the victims,” Prouza said, adding that experts have agreed there is almost no possibility the defendant could be re-integrated into society. “The court is convinced that if the defendant would ever be set free he would commit the same crime again. The court thinks it is necessary to separate such people from proper society.”   
Awaiting appeals
Steinbauer has maintained his innocence. Although several experts’ reports describe him as a cold-hearted psychopath, he paints a much different picture of himself.
“I like animals and nature. As a romantic, I can hardly be a cold-blooded psycho,” he said via e-mail from the director of the Valdice penitentiary where he is currently being held. “I am not aggressive. I usually try to settle all problems with reason; violence is the last option.”
Steinbauer has appealed his sentence to the Supreme Court, which, within a few months, should confirm or deny the verdict of the regional court. In the event that the Supreme Court upholds the decision, Steinbauer would be the 31st prisoner currently serving a life sentence in a Czech penitentiary. Other convicted criminals currently serving such punishments are Pavel Peca, who brutally killed his wife and two teenage daughters with an axe, and double-murderer Jiří Kájínek, who famously escaped from a Mírov prison in 2000 and was on the run for 40 days before being recaptured.
Radim Letovský can be reached at news@praguepost.com


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