Man Found Guilty of Burying Fiancée Alive

Marcin Kasprzak said burying his fiancée alive was just a prank. But a West Yorkshire jury found him guilty today of attempted murder for burying Michelina Lewandowska, 27, in a box near their home, the Guardian reports. According to testimony, Kasprzak, 25, wanted their three-year-old son after his relationship with Lewandowska went sour. Horrifying details emerged of how she found herself stuck in a buried box with a heavy tree branch covering the earth above her.

"I prayed to God to help me to survive so that I could look after my young son," she said. "The thought of my son gave me the strength to fight my way out of the box and save myself." Lewandowska used her engagement ring to cut herself out of the box, then dug her way out and flagged down a passing driver, the Telegraph reports. She still has nightmares about it, she says. Kasprzak will be sentenced next month along with a man found guilty of helping him kidnap Lewandowska. (Read about a man accused of stabbing his wife, and himself, with their wedding cake knife.)