Domicela Skiera

Domicela Skiera was beaten to death in her home on Ranelagh Road in Ealing.

She was found dead in her home by two lodgers at about 9.50pm on Wednesday 29 January 2003. The lodgers were Polish and spoke no English. They ran to a neighbour and tried to tell them what had happened but could not make themselves understood and ended up taking the neighbour to the house to show them Domicela Skiera's body.

It was thought that she was beaten to death by a Polish lodger, possibly with the help of another person. She had been tied up and repeatedly punched in the face. Every bone in her face was broken. It was also thought that her attacker had used their bare hands to hit her.

Her house had been ransacked and a large amount of cash was stolen. However, the police said that it was difficult to establish what was missing.

Her post mortem stated her cause of death as being due to facial injuries. A Detective Chief Inspector said, 'She had suffered horrific injuries consistent with being punched with massive force. Both her cheekbones and jaw were completely pulverised'.

Domicela Skiera owned two properties in London. The one she lived in was worth £600,000 whilst another nearby was worth £400,000. She used to take in lodgers at both houses, many of them being from Poland, and it was known that she used to carry out many large transactions in cash.

The police said that the lodger that they thought had attacked her had arrived two days before she was killed. He was described as being 5ft 8in tall, around 30 years old, with dark hair, a dark moustache and had pock-marked skin. When he was last seen he had been wearing a blue sleeveless padded jacket or bodywarmer and was thought to have worked as a builder's labourer.