Matej Čurko

The full story is told in the book "Die Entscheidung - Begegnung mit einem Kannibalen", which the author Markus Dubach has published on 26 November 2017 (currently only german edition available).

Matej Čurko (1968 – May 12, 2011), known as The Slovak Cannibal, was a Slovak murderer, cannibal and suspected serial killer. He was killed by police after attempting to entice a Swiss man to his death. Upon investigation, it was discovered that he had killed and eaten two women who had volunteered themselves to be murdered and cannibalized. Soon afterwards, police from Italy announced that the killer could be responsible for up to 28 other disappearances since 2009.

In the spring of 2011, a young Swiss man by the name of Markus Dubach, who had contemplated suicide due to bullying at work place, posted an ad on the cannibal site where he asked for somebody to kill and eat him. Originally intended as a joke, he was surprisingly contacted by Čurko, who made an offer to do the job. Overtaken by curiosity, Dubach kept in contact with his anonymous would-be killer, even sending him pictures of his legs and buttocks to show his athletic build. Much to Markus' shock, Čurko actually sent him pictures showcasing female body parts, as well as human meat being cooked in a pan. After this, he decided to contact the Swiss authorities, who did not believe him at first, but quickly changed their mind after seeing the messages between the two.

During the search of his property, only two bodies were discovered: those of 30-year-old Elena Gudjakova, from Oravské Veselé, who went missing on June 23, 2010; and the other of 20-year-old Lucia Uchnárová, from Snina, who went missing on September 3, 2010. Both women had issues with mental health, with Lucia previously attempting suicide in 2008, and both had contacted Čurko through the Internet. Their bodies were later found in shallow graves on Čurko's property.

Investigators from Italy managed to connect the profiles of 28 women with Čurko's victim type: age 25–28, suicidal and willingness to be killed and cannibalized. All of them disappeared between January 2009 and May 2011, while he was still active. This is supported by the emails shared between Dubach and Čurko, where a possible victim of Italian nationality was mentioned, and the fact that there were body parts found in his refrigerator which did not match those of Gudjakova or Uchnárová. Authorities followed up leads on the Internet, but due to a law in Slovakia, any information stored prior to 2009 is no longer available.