Irena Čubírková

Born on March 15th, 1923 - executed on Semptember 28th, 1966, Prague

Irena Čubírková is the first woman executed after 1945. In October 1951, she murders her husband and in December 1964 she murders her helpmate too. She was mother of seven (her husband was father of four, her helpmate was father of three). Both cases of murder were well-prepared. She murdered her husband after a few attempts.

In the afternoom in December 1964, at the Trnava - Bratislava slow train toilet, near Pezinok station, the conductor finds a human head exsomatized from its body. All 287 passangers are gathered in a very short time, but none of them can tell something more about either the possible wrong-doer or their victim. There are no doubts the head was brought to the train during the journey. The track is examined thoroughly but neither the body nor some other parts of the body are found. No available clues are found either. What is more, a pair of bloody overalls is found in a goods-train going from Bratislava to Budapest. The public is troubled very much.

The head found in the train

The very next day - when checking up the missing people, criminalists meet Ambróz Ščepko, living in Boleráz, Trnava. The man is missing by his helpmate, Irena Čubírková, who announced it at the Police station in Trnava. The photograph of an alive Ambróz Ščepka is compared with the photograph of the head found in the train and the identity of the unknown head is reliably confirmed. Being asked about Ambróz Ščepka and their relationship, Čubírková seems to be a bit uncertain as if she is trying to conceal something. The house search follows. But there are no signs indicating that Ščepko was murdered in her house. When leaving her house, one of the criminalists touches the oven, which was used for baking bread, finding out that it is rather hot. Čubírková's son denies baking bread in it. Ever since Ščepko is thought to be murdered and burnt in the oven.

Ambróz Ščepko's head (the head had to be cosmetic and surgically improved because of the identification)

Čubírková cannost explain why the oven was hot, she becomes more and more confused. Eventually, she pleads guilty admitting that it was her who murdered her helpmate. Her motive: Ščepko is drinking heavily, they quarrel all the time, disconsolate family relationship and a complete breakdown of their relationship. It is Ščepko's nameday on December 7th, 1964 and that is why he has been drinking since the very morning. In the evening, he and Irena Čubírková visits their neighbours where he keeps on drinking. After having returned home, at about half past nine, drunken Ščepko falls down from a chair and stays lying on the floor. Čubírková takes an axe and hits Ščepko's head twice. Then using a meat axe, an axe and a knife, she cuts his head off. She puts the body into the oven and sets it on fire. She puts the head into a sack, hides it and cleans the blood stains. The body is on fire for 35 hours. The ashs is sorted out, bones are earthed in the cowshed and the rest is put in the garbage and hiden in the garden. Later on, she borrows her neighbours' bag, puts the head in it and covers it with work-shirt. She takes the bag and goes to local town hall to announce that she has been missing her helpmate. After that, she leaves for Trnava. She waits there for the train to Bratislav, leaves the bag with the head at the toilet in the train and throws the work-shirt on a wag. Having done all of this, she goes to Police station in Trnava to announce that she has been missing her helpmate, for the second time. Then she takes a train a returns home. Being asked why she decided to cut the head off, to burn the body and to leave the head at the toilet in the train, she answers, with an appropriate self-confidence, that it was her way of revenge. Drunken Ščepko was said to threaten Čubírková with cutting her head off and throwing it into a toilet...

Čubírková and her helpmate Ambrózm Sčepkou

When the investigation of Ščepka's death is nearly at its very end, the criminalists find out that Ján Čubírek, Čubírková's husband, was killed by the falling stove, when siding it from the attic. It happened in Trutnov more than 13 years ago. That is why the criminalists decide to check up the case of Ján Čubírka death. His body is unearthed and the experts prove that he died of a wound caused by repeated hitting his head with a blunt object. It is inevitable that someone else must have hit him. The experts also exclude that the deathblow was caused by the stove. It all resultes in another accusation of a murder. The murder of her husband.

Irena Čubírková is living in Trutnov from 1945 to August 15th, 1959. She is living there together with her husband until his death on October 10th, 1951. Čubírková has an extramarital affair with a married man. Čubírek learns about it and can even prove that. Coming home unexpectedly, he finds her pants stained with sperm. To make sure, he asks a doctor who proves his suspicion. Since the family relationship both in the Čubírková family and her lover family become worse and worse, Čubírková decides to murder her husband. Her lover, and later even his wife, lends her a helping hand. Čubírková manages to persuade his lover's wife that they have nothing in common and that they did not have any extramarital affair and that Čubírek made it up on purpose. Now they are thinking about killing Ján Čubírek.

For the first time, Čubírková tries to overdose her husband with pills called "Fluocit". Her lover arranged the pills for her. Although Čubírek takes the pills, nothing happens to him. The pills are originally used for female genitals treatment. The following plan is worked out by the same team (Čubírková, her lover and his wife). They want to hang him. Čubírková should bring his husband out for a night walk in the woods. They choose a particular place where they will knock Čubírek out and hang him up the tree. The wife of Čubírková's lover arranges the rope. But nothing happens because Čubírek refuses to go for a night walk.

The way Ján Čubírek was murdered

Their aim is met on October 10th, 1951. Čubírek is ill, having time off. He plans to paint the furniture. Čubírková arranges a strong drink with drugs that her lover got. Čubírková is supposed to irritate her husband and make him have a drink. When he falls asleep, her lover will kill him. The dead body will be placed on the floor near the stairs where the stove will fall on it. No matter how much naive the plan was, they were successful. Having had his drink, Čubírek feels sleepy. His wife takes him to bed where Čubírek falls asleep. Here comes Čubírková's lover and kills Čubírek by hitting his head. Then he leaves the house. Čubírková visits her lover's wife to ask her to help her with the dead body. They lay the dead body under the stairs in the hall and throw the stove on it. Having covered all the tracks, the bed linen stained with blood is taken to Čubírková's neighbours' flat.

Then Čubírková tells her nine-year old daughter to wake the father up. She knows that her daughter has to go through the hall where her dead husband is lying. Seeing the dead body, the girls starts screaming. Hearing the scream, a neighbour of theirs comes to the house. When seeing the dead body, he is sure that Čubírka was killed by the falling stove. The called in policemen and the emergency find Čubírková's explanation satisfactory and thus no other inquiry is carried out (autopsy and that stuff). Policemen take down on record all the facts Čubírková tells them. Of course, she worked it up in advance. Later on, the wife of Čubírková's lover reveals the secret about the death of Ján Čubírek to her neighbour. She tells policemen about it, but nobody pays attention to her. The truth comes out thirteen years later. Čubírková is sentenced to death, her lover is sentenced to fifteen years in prison. The wife is not on trial - the amnesty applies to her. The second woman executed after 1945 is Olga Hepnarová.

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