Polish fugitive who killed Stamford Hill pensioner locked up indefinitely

A convicted burglar, who gagged, bound and left an elderly woman to die in her Stamford Hill home, has been locked up indefinitely.

Kuba Dlugosz, 33, was sentenced at the Old Bailey on Thursday (July 21) after being found guilty in June of the manslaughter of Eveline Kelmenson in November 2008.

The Polish national, who was wanted on a European arrest warrant for skipping prison, broke into her large five-bedroom house in Leweston Place, stripped her of a gold necklace and her mother’s wedding ring and ransacked her home.

Miss Kelmenson, 83, known to her family and friends as Lina, was bound and gagged and abandoned on her bedroom floor. Despite struggling to free herself she eventually died of hypothermia and lay undiscovered for five weeks.

Police found the spinster’s body on January 1 2009, after her niece, one of her few remaining relatives, became concerned.

Dlugosz, of no fixed abode, received an indeterminate prison sentence and will not be eligible for parole for seven years.

Det Chief Insp Stewart Hill, who led the investigation, said: “The determination and tenacity of all those involved in the investigation has helped to secure the conviction of a ruthless and wicked individual. I can only hope that this result today brings some solace to Eveline’s family.”

The jury was unable to reach a verdict on another man charged with the manslaughter and robbery of Eveline Kelmenson. There will be a re-trial at a later date.