The Jigsaw Puzzle Murder, a new two-part documentary on Paramount+, tells the true story of Stuart Everett, a 67-year-old from Salford who was killed by his housemate in March 2024. For weeks afterwards, the man who killed him kept messaging Stuart’s family as if Stuart were still alive.
Both episodes arrive on Thursday 12 November, and the series ends with the trial. Here’s who Stuart Everett was, what happened to him, how Greater Manchester Police caught Marcin Majerkiewicz, and where the case stands now.
The Jigsaw Puzzle Murder
The true story of Stuart Everett, and the CCTV clip that caught his killer.
Is The Jigsaw Puzzle Murder a true story?
Yes. The Jigsaw Puzzle Murder is a documentary about the real murder of Stuart Everett in Salford, Greater Manchester, in March 2024. His housemate, Marcin Majerkiewicz, was jailed for life for it in March 2025.
The series follows Greater Manchester Police from the discovery of a dismembered torso in woodland on the edge of Salford in April 2024, through the search for the rest of Stuart’s remains across Greater Manchester, to the trial. Officers who worked the case take part, according to ATV Today.
It also gives a voice to someone who hasn’t spoken publicly before. Michal Polchowski, the third man who lived in the house, was arrested during the investigation and later cleared, and he tells his story for the first time, the Royal Television Society reported.
Who was Stuart Everett?
Stuart Everett was a 67-year-old retired man who lived in a shared house on Worsley Road in Winton, Salford. He was in poor health and had had a stroke.
He was born Roman Ziemacki, and his brother, Richard Ziemacki, lives in Derby. Stuart had shared the house with Majerkiewicz and Polchowski since 2017. He leased it from the landlord, and Majerkiewicz rented his room from him. All of this comes from the judge’s sentencing remarks.
After the verdict, Richard said it was hard to put into words how much he misses his brother, LBC reported.
What happened to Stuart Everett?
Stuart Everett was killed in Marcin Majerkiewicz’s bedroom at their shared house on the night of 27 March 2024. He was hit on the head at least four times with a heavy blunt object, probably a hammer.
The judge found the murder was planned, and that Majerkiewicz, who was in debt, did it to get his hands on Stuart’s money. Here is how the next four weeks unfolded.
- Stuart is killed at the house in Winton.
- At 8.11 am, a message from Stuart’s phone tells the third housemate he’s going to his brother’s for Easter.
- Majerkiewicz dismembers the body and keeps the remains in a freezer, then makes around 11 trips to parks and open spaces across Salford and north Manchester.
- CCTV picks up a man carrying a large bag near Kersal Dale, a nature reserve in Salford.
- A member of the public finds remains at Kersal Dale.
- Pretending to be Stuart, Majerkiewicz messages his family, sends them faked videos saying he’s ill and moving house, and even sends a birthday card.
- He is arrested with Stuart’s phone and bank cards.
Dates and details from the sentencing remarks and the Crown Prosecution Service.
Remains were recovered from sites including Kersal Dale, Chesterfield Close in Winton, Linnyshaw Colliery Woods, Boggart Hole Clough and Blackleach Reservoir, where he also threw away the hacksaw. Only about a third of Stuart’s body was ever found.
Who killed Stuart Everett, and why?
Marcin Majerkiewicz, his housemate, killed Stuart Everett. He was found guilty of murder at Manchester Crown Court on 21 March 2025, and the judge ruled he had killed Stuart for financial gain.
Majerkiewicz, who was 42 at the trial, is Polish and had lived in the UK for nearly 20 years. He admitted cutting up the body but denied murder, The Manchester Mill reported, and he did not give evidence.
He didn’t get much for it. By the time he was arrested he had not taken large sums from Stuart’s account, the judge said. What he did do was cover his tracks: he cut out a bloodstained piece of carpet from his room and dumped it in a skip outside the house, and he cleared out Stuart’s belongings.
How did police catch Marcin Majerkiewicz?
Police caught Marcin Majerkiewicz by tracing the man seen carrying a heavy bag near Kersal Dale. On 25 April 2024, investigation support officer Clare Daly spotted him by chance walking in the street, recognised him from the CCTV, and he was arrested.
Detectives reasoned that whoever dumped the remains had come on foot, because vehicles can’t reach that part of the nature reserve, and the hunt became known as the search for the “heavy bag man”, ITV Granada reported. Lewis Hughes, then a detective superintendent at Greater Manchester Police, put the logic simply.
People are lazy. Body parts are heavy.
Lewis Hughes, Greater Manchester Police
From there it was CCTV, bus records and his phone’s location data, which put him at the dump sites and led police to more remains. The investigation stretched across 19 crime scenes.
This isn’t the first documentary on the case this autumn. In October, a detective told Channel 5’s Murder Scene: The Incident Room that after leaving remains at Blackleach Reservoir, Majerkiewicz walked back into town and went to KFC, IBTimes reported.
Where is Marcin Majerkiewicz now?
Marcin Majerkiewicz is in prison, serving a life sentence. Mr Justice Cavanagh sentenced him on 28 March 2025 to a minimum term of 34 years, cut to 33 years and 31 days for time already spent on remand.
That means he can’t be considered for release by the Parole Board before 2058, and even then release isn’t automatic. Neither the judge’s sentencing remarks nor the CPS statement says which prison he is in.
The judge said there were very substantial aggravating features in the case. Among the facts he set out were the planning, the dismemberment, and the weeks Majerkiewicz spent pretending to be Stuart.
Who is Michal Polchowski?
Michal Polchowski was the third man living in the house on Worsley Road. He was arrested during the investigation, gave a no-comment interview, and was later cleared of any involvement.
He placed himself at the house around the time of the killing, which raised the question of whether there was one killer or two, according to the documentary’s synopsis, published by Televisual. The Jigsaw Puzzle Murder is the first time he has told his side of the story.
How can you watch The Jigsaw Puzzle Murder?
The Jigsaw Puzzle Murder is on Paramount+ from Thursday 12 November, and both episodes come out on the same day, so you can watch it in one go.
The Jigsaw Puzzle Murder
It’s a Paramount+ exclusive, so you’ll need a subscription to watch it. Claire Goodlass and Sophie Jones are the executive producers.