Before I begin the crime story let’s first discuss a little history about Croatia and the Croatian legal system. The legal system of Croatia is a civil law system, historically influenced by Austrian, Hungarian and Yugoslav law, but during the accession of Croatia to the European Unionin 2013, the legal system was almost completely harmonized with European Union law. Croatia established independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 and due to the fall of the communist party in Yugoslavia and the Balkan war the majority of the Croatian population has personal experience of the past atrocities because of the war. Croatia today is a parliamentary democracy. Croatia possesses a multi-party system based on the principle of three branches of government the Legislative, Executive and Judicial. The crime rate in Croatia tends to be very low with a homicide rate of 6 cases per 100,000 people.
Now let us hop into the crime story. Jasmina Dominic was born in 1977and grew up in the village of Pavlovec, northeast of the capital Zagreb with her mother Katarina, her father Martin and her sister Smiljana who was three years older. It was reported that the father Martin was an alcoholic and was prone to violence as well as borrowing money from his extended family. According to extended family the Dominic family held many secrets. Unfortunately, I could not find out much Jasmina’s personality expect that she was a great student and an amazing athlete. Jasmina was enrolled at the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb in the academic year 1996/1997, the following year she changed from full-time to part-time status and discontinued her studies in September 1999. She could have quit college due to money issues but she came from wealthy family so it is only really considered a rumor from her uncle. It is not known who she hung out with in Zagreb whilst at college.
The beginning of this crime story begins on February 16th, 2018. The patriarch of the Dominic family Martin had died in 2013 and his daughter Smiljana was living in his home, his elderly wife was still alive but his youngest daughter Jasmina had not been seen in 18 years. Though Jasmina had not been seen since the year 2000 she had only been reported as missing in 2005. However from 2000 to 2005, one person did have contact with Jasmina, her sister Smiljana. She told family members details that indicated that Jasmina was alive and well, but she did not want to talk to her parents or extended family. Smiljana stated that Jasmina had a French boyfriend and that she planned to go to work on a ship then went to go live with him in Paris and that they would call each other. Once, in 2004 or 2005, Smiljana came to a neighbor to borrow a quilt because Jasmina would come home with her boyfriend. When a neighbor later asked her if Jasmina was home, Smiljana answered that she had arrived on Saturday night, but that she had already left on Sunday morning. It was also recalled that Smiljana and her husband Ivan Srnec went for a vacation in Budapest with friends. On the trip Smiljana’s friend saw her carrying Jasmina’s ID when he asked why she replied “well, we are similar”. When "communication" between the sisters ended in 2005, and Katarina found Jasmina’s personal documents in her bedroom which had expired in 2003 she and decided to go to the police and officially report her daughter as missing. Relatives resented Katarina for waiting so long to report Jasmina disappearance, it definitely caused a rift in the family. One of the girl’s uncles even hired a psychic who told him that "Jasmina was hit on the head with a blunt object”.
Since the report of Jasmina’s disappearance, the police have occasionally gone to Palovec to check for any news about Jasmina. Her phone book was searched, and no number was found that would stand out and be suspicious. As there was no evidence that a crime had been committed, the police apparently did not make much effort to investigate the whereabouts of the Jasmina. The police said that Smiljana told them that Jasmina was living in France but I could not find any evidence that the police reached out to French authorities to confirm this. Smiljana even offered to be polygraphed, twice (not the best idea) but could’nt because of her health condition.
Smiljana was diagnosed by the Vrapče Psychiatric Clinic, with a personality disorder with a predominance of dissocial and narcissistic characteristics. It’s not clear what year this diagnosis came about but there were defiantly signs. In High School Smiljana got a internship to be a elementary teacher’s aid, when she arrived at the school they would not let her start because she didn’t have a referral certificate from her high school. She said she didn’t have enough time to get the referral this is when the school discovered that Smiljana had not attended school since the third grade! Her parents were shocked by this news because they said that she was dropped off at school every day. Smiljana also liked to gamble but the big doozy was in June of 2016 when Smiljana was found guilty of false reporting because in 2014 she told the Police Department that she was attacked by three Roma men who stole $500 dollar earrings from her. But this never happened. A Croatian psychologist said that people with this type of personality disorder are the most common perpetrators of aggressive acts and violence. Their desires and intentions to be satisfied immediately, without delay and regardless of the consequences. People with a dissocial personality disorder as diagnosed in Smiljana Srnec very often react aggressively, it is an outbreak of repressed aggression and they have a lack of emotions. Such persons do not experience a sense of guilt, and they always rationalize their behavior. Despite her disorder Smiljana had a husband and three children which she adored.
This brings us back to the date of February 16, 2018, that due to a power outage a freezer on the ground floor of Smiljana’s home started to smell. The freezer that was manufactured in 1987 had not been used by her family for years so they decided it wasn’t worth it to keep it. Smiljana’s daughter Katarina and her boyfriend were tasked with cleaning out the freezer. First they noticed bags of food from the year 2000 then they say female gentalia and legs and called the police. When the police arrived at the scene they noticed the freezer chest in the hallway of the house under the stairs were bags of frozen peas, fruits and vegetables, strawberries with dates from June 1 and June 9, 2000. In addition, there were bags of carrots and fish in the chest of the body. The body was covered by a blue-white-green duvet cover with a floral pattern in which the other part of the body was wrapped, and there were traces of blood on it. The head of the victim was again wrapped in a black nylon bag tied around her neck with a nylon stocking. There was a table cloth under the body and each leg was wrapped in a black nylon bag and additionally wrapped it in a nylon sock and tied everything in a knot again. Beneath the body in the freezer were also bags of frozen offal, bags of frozen cherries, which were placed in the chest on June 6, 2000, and two bowls of frozen food and a bag of frozen tomatoes. Leading to the conclusion that the body was placed in the freezer from June 6 to the 9th in the year 2000.
It didn’t take long to discover that the body in the freezer was that of 23-year-old Jasmina Dominic. She killed her with five strong blows to the head, most likely in her sleep, with an ax eye or some other object pushed her into the freezer chest. Forensic technicians photographed everything and arrested Smiljana the day after the body was found. An extensive investigation has been launched and completed with physical and circumstantial evidence concluding that Smiljana killed her sister Jasmina. The news of the discovery of the body 18 years after the report of the disappearance spread around the world and media outlets reporting about the evil sister in the quiet Croatian town. Four days later, Jasmina was properly buried in the local cemetery, in a white coffin, specially made for her because of the cramped position which she was found in.
The trial started in the summer of 2020 boy this was dramatic trail mainly due to the nature of the charges and due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the use of masks Smiljana liked to demonstrate how hard it was for her to wear a mask (but I guess it wasn’t that hard for her to murder her sister.) The defense argued that there wasn’t enough evidence for Smiljana to be the killer and noted that the house where Jasmina’s body was found belonged to her father until his death and he lived there until 2013. Though never explicitly said, she was blaming her father for the murder. Though Martin wasn’t the best guy, his family testified that he was torn up about Jasmina’s disappearance and would often say "that I just need to know where Jasmina is and see her”. The prosecutions case in my opinion was a slam dunk. The circumstantial evidence was there, she was found in Smiljana’s house, the motive was said to be jealously that Smiljana had for Jasmina whose life was on upward trajectory and Smiljana’s was not. The most damning for Smiljana’s guilt was the physical evidence. Smiljana’s fingerprints were all over the food stored along with her sister’s clothing and a piece of rubber glove that Smiljana used fell off in between the blankets and Jasmina’s body. Not to mention the DNA all over the blankets and food. On June 30th, 2020 Smiljana Srnec was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in prison for homicide and concealment of a body as of March 2021, Smiljana has not appealed her conviction.
Sources:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315321466_Criminology_crime_and_criminal_justice_in_Croatia
Croatian Sources (translated via Google Translate)
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