The Lowdown

Zbigniew D. snapped. After 37 years of marriage, one word — divorce — flipped a switch. His wife begged him to get help. Instead, he grabbed a knife and stabbed her dozens of times. Then he opened the door and told a neighbor: “See what happened.”

Now he’s on trial for murder. But what’s shaking the courtroom isn’t just what he did — it’s how his kids are standing by him.

“He’s sick, not a monster,” his daughter said through tears. “We already lost our mom. Do we really have to lose our dad too?”

The court heard it all — how he struggled after a car crash years ago, how things spiraled last year after a fender-bender wrecked more than just his Lexus. He started obsessing, stopped eating, pulled away from everyone. His wife tried to get him into the HCP psych hospital — they turned him away three times.

And now she’s gone.

His son said it best: “If I were born again, I’d want the same parents.” He didn’t excuse the crime — but he also didn’t see his father as a killer. Just a broken man who didn’t get help in time.

Zbigniew faces life behind bars. But the court might send him to a psychiatric hospital instead. His kids aren’t asking for mercy — just understanding.

“We forgive him,” they said. “He wasn’t himself.”