Naperville Mom Sentenced To Life For Brutal Child Murders

NAPERVILLE, IL — Elzbieta Plackowska, who stabbed her 5-year-old son and a 7-year-old girl to death in 2012 was sentenced Friday to natural life in prison without the possibility of parole. She was found guilty of the double murder Sept. 27.

Judge Robert Miller handed down the sentence to the 45-year-old, formerly of Naperville. He added two additional years onto the life sentence for killing two family dogs.

Plackowska's legal council presented an insanity defense during the trial, which lasted two and a half weeks. According to a press release from the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office, Plackowska was found guilty of 10 counts of first degree murder plus two counts of aggravated cruelty for the dogs. By statute, it's mandatory she serve a life sentence without parole.

Naperville police officers responded Oct. 30, 2012 to a report of a woman who had just been robbed. Upon arrival, they saw her covered in blood. Around the same time, the police report said, police were responding to a call from the mother of the girl Plackowska had been babysitting, requesting help in locating her daughter, Olivia. Police discovered the bodies of Justin Plackowska and Olivia Dworakowski and the two family dogs at the Dworakowski residence.

By that time, Plackowska had driven to a family friend's home.

DuPage County officials said prior to the murders, Plackowska told the children to get ready for bed. They were jumping on the bed and, armed with a kitchen knife, Plackowska went to the master bedroom and began stabbing her son about 100 times in the face and body. She then stabbed Olivia around 50 times throughout her body, and killed the two family dogs. She's been in DuPage County Jail ever since. At the time, Naperville's Police Chief Robert Marshall said the scene was the most gruesome he'd witnessed in his career. State's Attorney Robert Berlin called it "a scene of unimaginable horror."

“Justin and Olivia were two beautiful children who never got the chance to grow up,” said Berlin Friday. “They never got the chance to experience all that life has to offer or fulfill their childhood dreams. And while we may never fully understand why Ms. Plackowska denied these two young, innocent children their chance at a long, happy life, there is one thing of which we can be sure.

"For the brutal, senseless murder of her son Justin and his friend, Olivia Dworakowski, Elzbieta Plackowska will spend the rest of her life behind bars, in a cold cell with only the memories of her previous life to sustain her as the years close in," Berlin said. "I continue to offer my sincerest condolences to Justin’s and Olivia’s surviving family members as they move forward in their lives without the love and joy these two precious children once provided. I would like to thank the Naperville Police Department for their outstanding work on this extremely emotional case as well as my trial partners Mike Pawl and Nicole Wilkes-English.”

Image via DuPage County