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Man Charged in Brutal Murders of Daughter, 7, and Girlfriend on NW Side

By  Erin Meyer and Josh McGhee | September 30, 2014 8:13am | Updated on September 30, 2014 6:19pm

 Maciej Kotlinski, 35, of Belmont Heights, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
Maciej Kotlinski, 35, of Belmont Heights, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
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Scott Olson/Getty Images

CHICAGO — The only survivor of Maciej Kotlinski's bloody rampage was his 3-year-old daughter, found at her grandparents' house in the suburbs soon after her father confessed to killing the child's mother and her older sister, prosecutors said.

Chicago police found Ania Kotlinski, 34, and 7-year-old Victoria Kotlinski brutally slain in the Belmont Heights home in the 3400 block of North Odell Avenue Sunday morning after learning about the murders from Waukegan police, prosecutors said. 

Ania, who took Kotlinski's name, had been with her boyfriend for nine years, prosecutors said. They had two children.

Ania Kotlinski was stabbed seven times in the chest and suffered cuts to her hand and forearm, which the medical examiner categorized as defensive wounds, prosecutors said. Victoria was found with horrific stab wounds to her chest and neck, prosecutors said.

Maciej Kotlinski allegedly gave a recorded statement to police confessing to the murder of his girlfriend and daughter. 

No motive or explanation for the brutal murders was given by prosecutors. 

Waukegan police responded to a call of a suicidal man in Waukegan who told officers that he "just hurt his family in Chicago," according to Officer Jose Estrada, a Chicago Police spokesman.

Waukegan police asked Chicago police to conduct the well-being check of the Kotlinski's home, and officers discovered the horrific scene.  

A few dozen nearby residents surrounded the home while investigators were inside Sunday afternoon.

Many of them expressed disbelief over the crime; a few of them said while they did not know the family personally, they believed they were a "nice Polish" family.

Kotlinski was ordered held without bail by a Cook County judge on Tuesday. 

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