A convicted double-killer who was on the run for over 15 years has been found guilty of the murder of a ex-policeman on a canal towpath after finally being unmasked.
The 50-year-old had been convicted of murdering former officer Clive Porter under the name Daniel Wisniewski.
However, when the jury returned its verdict, the prosecution revealed that the man on trial was really murderer Sylwester Krajewski.
He had been on the run after escaping from jail in Poland in 2005.
Krajewski claimed from the dock that he was not a convict on the run, maintaining that he was Daniel Wisniewski - prompting the judge to hold a trial of issue hearing to decide who he really was.
Today, Krajewski was jailed for life and will serve a minimum of 35 years for killing Mr Porter.
The court heard how Krajewski had made several attempts to delay court proceedings by sacking his defence counsel on three occasions, the last being on the day of his sentencing today.
During the trial of issue, Mr Justice Turner heard how fingerprint and palm-print evidence given to Thames Valley Police from Interpol and Polish authorities, exactly matched on 56 of his fingerprint characteristics, with no mismatches detected by forensic experts.
Giving his verdict on the identity question, Mr Justice Turner said: "There were no details to cast doubt that they (the defendant and Krajewski) are not the same person.
"He will be sentenced on the basis that he Krajewski, and his murder of Mr Porter was his third such offence."
Earlier a jury at Reading Crown Court heard that Mr Porter was murdered after Krajewski took exception when he saw him placing a penalty ticket on someone else's narrowboat because it did not have a mooring licence.
Krajewski's third murder happened on April 26 last year.
The jury was told that Mr Porter was using his retirement from Hertfordshire Police to patrol the Grand Union Canal, volunteering for the Canal and Rivers Trust and picking up any boats which were being used without licences.
The defendant was on his own narrowboat, The Captain Golden Heart, at a lock on the Grand Union Canal when he spotted Mr Porter posting a notice on the nearby "Frosty Jack" boat.
The jury heard in a three-week trial that, after a verbal confrontation between Mr Porter and Krajewski, the latter battered the ex-policeman to death, leaving him face-down in a water-filled ditch on the canal bank in Aylesbury.
Paramedics managed to pull Mr Porter out of the water and worked desperately to save his life, but he was declared dead soon after.
Krajewski, fleeing the scene shortly afterwards, was found by a police helicopter crew hiding underneath a trailer on his partner's land nearby.
The Polish national, who sat in the dock listening to an interpreter throughout proceedings, denied that he murdered Mr Porter, instead claiming that he tried to save him after he was being attacked by a pair of unknown men who he claimed came from the Frosty Jack.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Shearwood, senior investigating officer for the major crime unit of Thames Valley Police, said: "Clearly this is my opinion, but I think Krajewski is a controlling individual and he has tried to make this trial all about him.
"There has been no consideration to Clive's family and no remorse shown whatsoever.
"Clive was married to Sharon - they were childhood sweethearts and life partners. This evil individual has taken that away from Sharon and she will never see Clive again.
"I'm very satisfied we've been able to catch and convict such a dangerous offender but of course, it is something Sharon will have to live with for the rest of her life.
"Krajewski is subject to a European arrest warrant, known as a red notice, and he's been wanted for a considerable period of time. I'm sure Poland would like to have him back in their prisons at some point.
"He's 50 years old and now we've added that sentence on, so he is likely to die in prison."
In a victim impact statement read by Sharon Porter, Clive's widowed wife, she said: "When my granddaughter was told her granddad had died she want to know why. How do you tell a four-year-old that someone killed him?
"In the end we told her that we don't really know, which is sort of true as we haven't had an exact cause of death and we certainly do not understand why anyone would want to kill such a quiet, kind, gentle man who was just doing his job."
Informing the court of Krajewski's murderous crimes committed in 1992, the prosecutor explained how Krajewski, alongside an accomplice, savaged a married couple in a forest using sticks and a gas firearm, beating the husband to death before suffocating the wife with the stick.
Krajewski and his accomplice then abandoned the bodies, stealing belongings and covering their tracks.
The chilling attack, the judge heard, was in order to defraud the couple out of a red Ford Sierra and took place while Krajewski impersonated a police officer using a fake police ID.
Referring to the Aylesbury murder, prosecutor Ross Cohen added: "This was a wholly unprovoked and cold-blooded attack, by a serial killer who absconded from prison, on a man who was just doing his job."
Defending, Tana Marie Adkin QC told the judge that he did not use any weapons and there was no evidence to suggest the murder was planned.
She also told the judge that the defendant continues to protest his innocence, and continues to deny that he is anyone other than Daniel Wisniewski.
She said to the judge: "This defendant has been a model prisoner and has provided evidence confirming he has been a model prisoner."
Sentencing, the High Court judge said: "You had a long-standing grudge with the Canal and Rivers Trust and thought you were not getting enough value for money. You thought not enough was being done to look after the towpaths.
"You became obsessed and you became infuriated when you saw Mr Porter. You started to take no less than 13 photos of him as he went about his business. Mr Porter was a mild-mannered man who shyed away from confrontation.
"You began to harangue Mr Porter with such ferocity you began to attract the attention of others. You worked yourself up into such a frenzy you punched him with a blow so powerful that it was enough to cause a whiplash injury.
"Mr Porter ended up in a water-filled ditch. This was when you decided that he would have to die.
Krajewski, aged 50 years (age corr), who was living in Birmingham but is now of no fixed abode, was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 35 years being served before be can be considered for parole.
He will remain on licence for the rest of his life
