THE mother of a Coventry woman killed in a ‘vicious and savage attack’ said her story should act as a warning to those who find themselves in toxic relationships after her partner Patryk Skupinski was jailed for the crime.
Marlene Doyle was discovered with significant head injuries at a flat on Shakespeare Street on January 20, 2022 after a relative reported the 32-year-old had not been seen, or been able to contact, for several days.
Enquiries later established she most likely died up to five days earlier.
Her partner Patryk Skupinski had also disappeared and was identified as the prime suspect in her murder, with police eventually tracing him to his mother’s address in Coventry and arresting him.
During the investigation, police established Ms Doyle had been subjected to domestic violence over some time before her death.
JAILED- Skupinski, Lada, Hannah, Rybacka. s
Through CCTV and phone records officers established Skupinski had been in contact with two friends on the evening of January 15.
Michal Lada and Kinga Rybacka went to the flat in the early hours of January 16 and allowed him to stay with them and hide away for three days, despite them clearly knowing Skupinski had killed his girlfriend.
The killer had also been in contact with his mother Hanna Skupinski shortly after the death of Ms Doyle, who made enquiries around helping him leave the country and kept him hidden at her home for two days.
When officers attended her home to speak to him she initially refused to open the door.
Patryk Skupinski, aged 37, of Shakespeare Street, Coventry, was sentenced to life last Friday (October 6) and will serve a minimum of 21 years.
Hanna Skupinski, 59, of Bell Green Road, Coventry, was jailed for 15 months for assisting an offender.
Lada, 40, and Rybacka, 27, both of Blythe Road, Coventry, were also convicted of assisting an offender.
Lada was jailed for 42 months and Rybacka received a 15-month sentence.
Marlene’s mother Gloria said: “Marlene’s life was taken by a partner with whom she shared a loving relationship with, but ultimately became toxic due to domestic violence issues including verbal and physical abuse towards her.
“Marlene’s story should act as a warning to all women and men who find themselves within such relationships, and who choose to remain and keep quiet in the hope that the situation will improve.
“Marlene paid with her life for not acting sooner, killed at the hands of a wicked man whom she loved and trusted. Marlene will be forever missed by her three young sons and her ever-loving family.”
