According to his parents, Straka never displayed any aggressive behaviour when he was young and was generally considered a good child, albeit slightly more emotional than others.
[1] In 1985, at a time when the country was celebrating the Spartakiad, Straka began to act out on his sexual urges, stalking women around Prague at nighttime, whom he eventually started to attack.
[2] The following month, Straka attacked two more victims in Prague 6,[4] hitting one on the head with a cobblestone and stealing her bag, while the other successfully defended herself from him using judo.
After finishing with her, he shoved a pair of panties, clay, stones and some dirt into her mouth, as well as a few leaves in her nose, which caused her to suffocate to death.
Feeling unsatisfied, Straka went looking for another victim, chancing upon a 30-year-old doctor, Věra F. He attacked her as well, slamming her heels on her face until she fainted, whereupon he raped and then strangled her with her bra straps.
[5] As a known sex offender in the prison system, Straka was regularly mistreated by fellow inmates, whose abuse ranged from trying to convince him to hang himself to shoving his genitals in porridge.
Following said release, he changed his last name to Novák,[4] married his girlfriend (whom he had met in the hospital) on 7 December 2006, and moved to a village near the Polish border, where he now lives a law-abiding lifestyle.
[5] Both Straka and his parents have given several interviews on Czech television, with the former talking about his personal experiences in both prison and the hospital,[6][8] while the latter two expressed their view that it would have been better for the family if their son had been executed.