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

A new HBO Max documentary, Obsession: The Murder of a Beauty Queen, out Dec. 17, revisits the life and death of Agnieszka Kotlarska, one of Poland’s most accomplished models of the early 1990s. The film examines how her ascent from a local pageant winner to an international fashion hopeful was shadowed—and ultimately derailed—by a man whose fixation escalated into lethal violence, and places her story in the context of a time when stalking protections in Poland were limited.

Agnieszka Kotlarska was born in Wrocław in 1972. She rose quickly in Poland’s modeling scene, winning Miss Wrocław in 1990, Miss Poland in 1991, and becoming the first Polish contestant to win Miss International in Tokyo later that year. Her success led to work in New York, Milan, and Paris, and collaborations with designers such as Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, with appearances in Vogue and Cosmopolitan. She married Jarosław Świątek, whom she met during early competitions, and the couple lived in Manhattan before returning to Wrocław in 1993 with a daughter. By 1996, she balanced motherhood with an expanding career and early plans to move into film, and she was widely viewed as a leading cultural export for Poland.

The stalker Jerzy Lisiewski began following Kotlarska as a teenager and escalated his behavior through the early 1990s. Investigators cited in the documentary say he tracked her route home from school, pressed for conversations, and waited outside her family home. Kotlarska repeatedly rejected his advances, but the refusals only intensified the pursuit. When she took work abroad, he reportedly continued writing to her, even sending a marriage proposal in a letter she may never have seen. Poland at the time offered few legal protections against stalking, and Kotlarska had limited recourse against his escalating behavior.

Toward the end of July 1996, Kotlarska prepared for an international photo shoot that would take her from Warsaw to Paris. Her husband advised flying directly to Paris to meet the team, rather than making a stop in New York. The decision saved her life: days later, a TWA Flight 800 disaster over Long Island killed all aboard, including the photographers Kotlarska would have worked with, drawing global attention to the perils of travel and the random shocks of life in the era. Lisiewski, meanwhile, had located her new Wrocław residence using public phone listings, a sign that stalking laws and enforcement were ill equipped to address his behavior. The film notes that Kotlarska had little formal protection and that the era’s legal frameworks lagged behind such threats.

On Aug. 27, 1996, Lisiewski arrived outside Kotlarska’s home as the family prepared to leave for a car trip. He stabbed Kotlarska’s husband’s leg, then turned the knife on Kotlarska as she stepped forward to defend him, delivering multiple fatal wounds. He then walked away and waited for authorities. Lisiewski was convicted of murder and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was released in 2012 and later arrested again in 2014 for a separate violent offense; he is not in prison now. Kotlarska and her husband and daughter later moved abroad and kept a low public profile.

The case helped renew public discussions in Poland about stalking, gender-based violence, and the lack of protective legislation at the time. Poland’s Penal Code would later recognize stalking under Article 190a, with penalties up to eight years, and up to 15 years if the stalking leads to suicide. The provision went into effect in 2011. In 2022, the Agnieszka Kotlarska Foundation, known as AGA, was established to support survivors with counseling, psychological care, and self-defense training through its Oasis of Peace program. The documentary uses Kotlarska’s story to explore how a rising star’s life intersected with broader questions about gender-based violence and the state’s capacity to respond.

The film, drawing on investigators’ statements and archival material, reflects on how a moment in Poland’s cultural trajectory during the 1990s intersected with broader questions about gender-based violence and the state’s capacity to respond. In telling Kotlarska’s story, Obsession also speaks to ongoing efforts to reframe safety for women and to honor her legacy through the work of AGA, which continues to support survivors and raise awareness about stalking today.