Woman, 51, ‘stabbed cheating boyfriend to death then left his body to rot in bedroom for nine days’

A WOMAN stabbed her cheating partner to death then left his body to rot in their bedroom for nine days, a court heard. Joanna Cierpka, 51, is accused of murdering Henrik Slotsaa, 52, at home in Elephant and Castle, South London. Joanna Cierpka is accused of murdering Henrik Slotsaa Credit: instagram/@joannacierpka She discovered the banker had met someone else, jurors heard Credit: Central News She then allegedly tried to cut her own throat before telling police: “I don’t want to be helped. “You know what happened here? He told me I’m a useless s**t. He told me I should kill myself.” Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Jurors heard police found Henrik’s partially decomposed body in the bedroom surrounded by a dried pool of blood. The banker had 14 separate “sharp force injuries” with “slash and stab wounds to the face, neck, arms, and legs”, prosecutor Danny Robinson KC said. He added: “There were also unusual wounds to the backs of both knees that may have represented an attempt at dismemberment.” The Old Bailey heard Henrik worked as a banker at Citibank’s London officein Canary Wharf. Cierpka had worked for British American Tobacco before she was made redundant – allegedly leaving her in a “bad way”. In the weeks leading to the horror, jurors heard Henrik had been “flirting” with a female work colleague and had told Cierpka on her birthday that “he had met someone else at work”. Most read in The Sun Henrik was discovered in a pool of blood, it was said Credit: Central News Cierpka has pleaded not guilty to Credit: instagram/@joannacierpka Jurors heard the colleague, Aimee O’Shaughnessy, started work at Citibank last September and met Henrik two months later. Mr Robinson said the pair swapped numbers and met up for lunch “on a number of occasions”. The prosecutor continued: “Mr Slotsaa told Miss O’Shaughnessy that things weren’t great at home, and he told Miss O’Shaughnessy that he liked her. “She said that her life was a mess and she didn’t want to complicate things by starting a relationship with him. According to her, he was fine with this. “They continued to meet up for lunch, and in March Mr Slotsaa said that he was thinking of offering Miss Cierpka £70,000 to move out of the flat they shared.” Henrik continued to exchange messages with Miss O’Shaughnessy over the weekend of Friday 6 March to Sunday 8 March, it was said. The court heard these messages continued until March 11 – but it is believed Cierpka had already killed Henrik and was pretending to be him. Work colleagues eventually became suspicious and raised the alarm after failing to contact him. On March 13, one of Citibank’s security employees went and called up to the flat on the intercom and spoke to Cierpka, who said he had gone out. Police went to the house two days later and found Henrik in his underwear “kneeling on the floor, with his thighs parallel to the end of the bed”. Mr Robinson said: “It was clear he had been dead for some time, as his body showed signs of decomposition, and there was dried, pooled, blood near to him.” Cierpka was arrested and taken to hospital for treatment for her wounds. At the hospital, she told a member of staff: “I killed my partner”, which was recorded in writing, and she signed and dated the note, it was said. Jurors heard Cierpka had previously received treatment and medication for depression. After her arrest, she told a psychiatrist Henrik had told her he did not love her anymore, and that on her birthday revealed he had met someone else at work. She has pleaded not guilty to murder but she says she is guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. The trial continues.