Construction workers in Warsaw discovered dead rats and eggs hidden in walls, confirming anonymous threats of ‘mason’s revenge’ over unpaid wages.
The Emergence of “Mason’s Revenge”
The so-called “mason’s revenge” gained attention at the end of 2022 when leaflets appeared near housing developments under construction in Warsaw’s Praga-Południe district. The leaflets claimed that construction workers employed on the sites had not received their wages.
According to the leaflets, the perpetrators decided to place frozen rat carcasses and chicken and quail eggs into the walls. “We decided to put [in the walls] frozen rat corpses and chicken and quail eggs. We placed 178 eggs and 61 rats in the walls (…) some packaged in compostable foil that will decompose in a year, some – in foil that will decompose in two years. Do you know how badly an egg or a rodent corpse smells in a wall?” read the leaflet content.
Initially, there was uncertainty whether these were mere threats or if someone had actually hidden something in the walls.
Criminal Investigation Confirms Threats Were Real
As of May 2023, it was established that three developers had been victims of attacks carried out since 2017 in various locations in Warsaw and its vicinity. In the ongoing proceedings, many witnesses, including representatives of these developers, were questioned, and monitoring and other evidence were secured in the case, according to Prosecutor Katarzyna Skrzeczkowska from the Warsaw-Praga Regional Prosecutor’s Office. However, the case then went cold.
Multiple Attacks Across Warsaw Area
According to Gazeta.pl, the investigation is still ongoing. The proceedings concern about a dozen incidents between July 2019 and February 2023 in Warsaw, Piaseczno, and Mysiadło. Currently, there are 13 victims in the case – companies, housing associations, and private individuals.
“These attacks involved pouring paint on building facades and window panes, damaging facades and windows by throwing various heavy objects, placing dead rat carcasses and eggs in walls, and pouring solvent between the building wall and styrofoam insulation to destroy it. At the sites of the attacked investments, letters containing threats and demands from the perpetrator were left,” Prosecutor Karolina Staros from the Warsaw-Praga Regional Prosecutor’s Office informed us.
Investigators confirmed that the rat and egg case concerned an investment by one development company in 2022 and 2023, specifically in about a dozen apartments. “Mortared eggs and rat bodies were found together in about a dozen places in two buildings. Not every place where mortaring occurred contained both eggs and rat bodies,” the prosecutor’s spokeswoman told us.
Motive Appears to Be Financial Extortion
“The evidence suggests that the perpetrator’s intention was probably to force the victims to take actions expected by the perpetrator, including paying him significant sums of money,” Prosecutor Karolina Staros indicated.
The prosecution is awaiting an expert opinion in the field of linguistics. Investigators will check whether linguistic analysis will allow for attributing the crime to a specific person.