Tesco worker killed wife and daughter in jealous rage, court told

A supermarket worker killed his wife and teenage daughter in a jealous rage after “losing his controlling influence” over their lives, a jury has been told.

Marcin Zdun attacked Aneta Zdun, a 40-year-old carer who worked with vulnerable people, and their daughter Nikoleta Zdun, 18, after his wife ordered him to leave home and said she wanted a divorce, the court heard.

The women were found critically injured at their home in Salisbury on 1 June. When Zdun, a Polish national, was arrested at the scene of the killings, police found a folding lock knife in his trouser pocket with blood stains on the blade and handle, it is alleged.

Zdun, 40, admits killing the women but denies murder, claiming he has no recollection of what happened and had an “abnormality of mental functioning”.

Opening the trial at Winchester crown court, Nicholas Haggan QC, prosecuting, said around a month before the women were killed, the defendant had tried to strangle his wife. The court was told Nikoleta wanted to call the police but her mother convinced her not to dial 999, insisting she was fine.

But Zdun was subsequently asked to leave the family home and his wife sought a divorce. She told her mother that she was worried Zdun might kill her and her daughter.

Zdun told a number of people that his wife was having an affair with a man he worked with at Tesco, but this was a “manifestation of the defendant’s jealous suspicions” as they had never even met, Haggan said.

The prosecutor told the jury: “We suggest the loss of his controlling influence over Aneta and Nikoleta so angered this defendant that … he decided to kill them.”

Haggan said there was evidence that pointed to the defendant having a “controlling nature”, and he complained that his wife was spending too much money and giving their daughter anything she wanted.

The prosecutor said 1 June was a “special date” in the Polish calendar. He said: “It is known as Children’s Day. It is an occasion when families celebrate and it is traditional for parents to give presents to their children.

“At some point during the early afternoon of Monday 1 June 2020, the defendant left his lodgings and walked the 2.6 miles or so to the family home.”

He said neighbours heard screaming. “Several people went to investigate. As they looked through a wire mesh fence into the garden, they were confronted by a horrific spectacle. They saw the defendant use a knife to attack Aneta and Nikoleta in a pathway running along the side of the property.”

The trial continues.