Women Buried Alive

Michelina Lewandowska used engagement ring to escape from cardboard box 

  when buried alive

Michelina Lewandowska, who was buried alive in a cardboard box, told a jury how she used her engagement ring to free herself.

Michelina Lewandowska, 27, said she prayed to God as she struggled to release herself.

She told the jury at Leeds Crown Court how she had been placed in the box by her partner, after he had allegedly attacked her with a Taser at their home in Huddersfield and bound and gagged her with tape.

Marcin Kasprzak, 25, with whom she has a three-year-old son, is on trial with another man Patryk Borys, 18, charged with attempted murder.

The court was told she was placed in the boot of a car by the two men and driven to a wooded area near Huddersfield where the box was buried in a shallow grave with a tree branch placed on top.

She managed to escape and flagged down a passing motorist.

Miss Lewandowska, who is Polish and who spoke through an interpreter, said: ''I thought about my ring, that I could take it off my finger and try to cut through the tape with it.

''I cut the tape from my legs with this ring. I put the ring back on my finger then I put my whole hand through the opening.''

She started to ''tear the box apart'' as she struggled to break free.

''I was trying to estimate how much soil was on the box and I think it was 10cm. It could have been more.

''I managed to tear a little apart from this little opening. Then I thought the next thing is to cut the tape because there was no other way to get out.

''I put the tape from my face onto my legs and I started to tear the box apart.

''I was focusing on the hole I had just made. I took my head out from the box through the hole and at that point the soil was getting in.''

She described how she was exhausted and said to herself ''my God, tell me what now?''

She called for help. ''I thought it won't be easy but I have to get out. I have to get to the street.

''I was very angry, I was struggling with the box. It was not easy.

''I managed to get half of my body out. I was lying on the ground. I was talking to myself, keep going.''

The court was told she could hear music from a nearby pub and as she stumbled down to the road she stopped a passing motorist who took her home and raised the alarm.

The court was told the ring was from happier times, but the engagement been called off.

Miss Lewandowska kept the ring and wore it on her right hand, the jury heard.

Earlier, she described how she was driven to the wooded area in the boot of the car.

"I could hear the radio on loudly and the conversation of Marcin and Patryk, but the problem was I couldn't make out what the conversation was about," she said.

She recalled how she heard digging and then soil being placed on top of the box, allegedly by Kasprzak.

"He was putting the soil on top of me. I wanted to reply. I wanted to put my two fingers through the hole but I was afraid if he could see it he may break my fingers with the shovel."

On Monday, Jonathan Sharp, prosecuting, said: "In a nutshell, this case is about a young man who got bored with his partner, the mother of his child, and he decided to get rid of her."

The jury was told that Kasprzak told his partner that she wasn't as good-looking as the girls he saw at the gym.

The court was told he would go out with friends, sometimes staying out all night, rather than spending time with her.

He was thinking about starting a relationship with another woman and had changed his Facebook status to single, the prosecutor said.

He said they did have a good relationship, but things started to change when she became pregnant. Their first child Jakub was born in 2008.

The jury was told that "one way or another, Michelina should be got out of the way".

"And that idea developed into him thinking that the only way of getting rid of her was to kill her," Mr Sharp added.

He said in May this year Kasprzak used a 300,000 volt Taser on his partner and recruited his friend Borys for help.

Kasprzak, of Huddersfield, and Borys, of Rashcliffe Hill Road, Huddersfield, deny attempted murder. Both are Polish.

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