The Tragic True Story Behind Obsession: The Murder of a Beauty Queen

A HBO Max documentary about Obsession: The Murder of a Beauty Queen revisits the life and death of Agnieszka Kotlarska, one of Poland’s most accomplished young models of the early 1990s. The film examines how a man’s fixation escalated into lethal violence at a moment when stalking was poorly understood by law and poorly protected by policy. It also places Kotlarska’s story in the context of a Poland transitioning from a Soviet-era social order to a society grappling with global fame, rapidly changing gender roles, and evolving legal defenses for victims of harassment. Obsession debuts on Dec 17 on HBO Max, and the documentary uses interviews, archival footage, and courtroom records to tell a case that remains both personal and systemic.

Kotlarska grew up in Wrocław, Poland, and rose from a local pageant circuit to become a national sensation. Born in 1972, she signed with a regional agency at 17 and soon earned Miss Wrocław in 1990, Miss Poland in 1991, and in the same year became the first Polish contestant to win Miss International in Tokyo. The victory launched an international modeling career that took her to New York, Milan, and Paris, where she worked with designers such as Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein and appeared in global editions of Vogue and Cosmopolitan. During this period she married Jarosław Świątek, whom she had met during early competitions. The couple lived briefly in Manhattan before returning to Wrocław in 1993, where they started a family and welcomed a daughter. By 1996, Kotlarska was balancing motherhood with an expanding career and had begun to explore opportunities in film. She was widely viewed as one of Poland’s most promising cultural exports.

The stalker

Long before Kotlarska became a public figure, a man named Jerzy Lisiewski noticed her as a teenager. Investigators and documentary sources describe how he first saw her photograph in a shop window and fixed on her image with growing intensity. Through the early 1990s his fixation escalated from curiosity to pursuit. He followed her route home from school, tried to start conversations, and waited outside her family home. Kotlarska repeatedly rejected his advances, but the refusals only intensified his pursuit. When she moved abroad for work, Lisiewski continued writing to her, even proposing marriage in a letter that she may never have read. Poland at the time offered few legal mechanisms to address stalking, and Kotlarska had limited recourse against his escalating behavior.

A narrow escape: Flight 800

In July 1996, Kotlarska prepared for an international photo shoot in Paris. Her schedule originally involved traveling from New York to Paris after a stop in Poland, but her husband advised traveling directly from Warsaw to Paris to avoid rerouting through New York. That decision proved life-saving in a way she could not have anticipated: TWA Flight 800, the plane she would have boarded en route to Paris, exploded shortly after takeoff from New York, killing all aboard. News of the disaster drew Lisiewski’s attention to her new address in Wrocław, and he began to locate her residence through public listings as his fixation sharpened into a threat that Polish authorities were ill-equipped to stop.

The day of the murder

On August 27, 1996, Lisiewski arrived at Kotlarska’s home around 2:30 pm as the family prepared to leave for the day. He approached with intent to speak with her; Świątek sensed danger and moved to call the police. Lisiewski stabbed Świątek in the leg, and Kotlarska stepped forward to shield her husband. Lisiewski turned the knife on Kotlarska, delivering several fatal wounds before walking away and waiting for authorities to arrive. He was later convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was released in 2012, and in 2014 was arrested again for a separate violent offense. He is currently out of prison. After the trial, Kotlarska’s husband and daughter moved abroad and kept a low public profile, choosing privacy over celebrity.

The cultural and legal aftermath

Kotlarska’s death reignited public debate in Poland about gender-based violence and the gaps in protective legislation for stalking victims. Today, Poland recognizes stalking under Article 190a of the Penal Code, which defines persistent harassment that makes a victim feel threatened or seriously infringes on privacy and can carry up to eight years in prison, with a longer maximum if the harassment leads to suicide. The article was not enacted until June 2011. In the years since, advocates have pressed for better protections, and in 2022 the Agnieszka Kotlarska Foundation, also known as AGA, was established to support survivors through resources such as counseling, psychological services, and self-defense training through its Oasis of Peace program. The foundation seeks to honor Kotlarska’s legacy while addressing ongoing harassment risks and empowering those affected.

The documentary’s scope and significance

Obsession uses Kotlarska’s life to illuminate a moment when stalkers could operate with little consequence and little recourse for victims. By weaving a biography of a transcendent talent with a criminal case and a legal landscape in transition, the film aims to provide context for a broader cultural shift in Poland and to place Kotlarska’s story within the longer arc of victims’ rights. The release date on HBO Max is set for Dec 17, offering audiences a perspective on how a global entertainment career intersected with local vulnerabilities, and how a single, dangerous fixation reverberated through families, communities, and policy debates.

The two images provided with the story illustrate the period and the subject: the first image captures Kotlarska in private archival material from the early 1990s, highlighting the era of her rise; the second image, from a different moment in her private archive, underscores the intimate, personal dimension of her life that the documentary seeks to honor and preserve.

As Poland continues to grapple with stalking and violence against women, the film stands as a reminder of the progress made and the work still required. By revisiting Kotlarska’s journey—from a teenager competing in local pageants to an international icon whose life was cut tragically short—the documentary invites viewers to reflect on how far society has come and what remains to be done to protect individuals from the danger of fixated attention.