Before you continue
This case involves crimes against children. Casepin presents the record in neutral, non-graphic language. Choose whether to continue.
Unsolved case · 1991
Also known as Murder of the Zec family · the Zec family killing
The short answer
Three members of a Serb family were killed in and near Zagreb, Croatia in December 1991; the participants were identified and reportedly confessed but were acquitted in 1992 and never convicted for the killings.
The coverage index
No one's coverage is attached to this file yet.
Know great coverage of this case?
A documentary, a podcast episode, a careful long-form video. Suggest it and an editor will review it before it appears here.
Suggest coverage for Killings of the Zec familyThe case file
On the night of 7 December 1991, during the Croatian War of Independence, three members of a Serb family were killed in and near Zagreb, Croatia. At around 11:00 p.m., five people surrounded the Zec family home. Four of them — Siniša Rimac, Munib Suljić, Igor Mikola and Nebojša Hodak — belonged to a paramilitary unit that formed part of the reserve units of the Croatian Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to the source account, the group entered the property purportedly to arrest Mihajlo Zec, a butcher, over alleged links to rebel Krajina Serbs.
Mihajlo Zec ran into the street and tried to escape but was fatally shot from about thirty meters away. His wife, Marija, and their 12-year-old daughter, Aleksandra, were tied up, placed in a van with no license plates, and driven to the Medvednica mountain area, where both were killed and left in a garbage pit. Two other Zec children, Gordana and Dušan, hid during the attack and fled to their grandmother's home in Banja Luka.
Within days, police arrested the group, and during early questioning the suspects described the killings in detail. Because these statements were taken without lawyers present, they could not be used as valid evidence. Witnesses testified that they saw Siniša Rimac shoot Mihajlo Zec, and forensic analysis linked seized weapons and the van to the crime. The County Court in Zagreb nonetheless returned a not-guilty verdict. On 19 February 1992, the Supreme Court of Croatia remanded the case, but on 9 July 1992 the County Court again returned a not-guilty verdict, a decision widely criticized by legal experts.
The Zec family killings were never resolved through the Croatian legal system. After their release, Siniša Rimac served in the Croatian Army and, on 30 May 1995, received a state honor awarded by then-President Franjo Tuđman. In 2005, Rimac, Suljić and Mikola were convicted in a separate case, the 'Pakračka poljana' proceedings, receiving sentences of eight, ten and five years respectively for crimes unrelated to the Zec verdict. Nebojša Hodak was sentenced in June 2005 to one year in a separate attempted-extortion case. Munib Suljić surrendered to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in June 2006, was returned to Croatia, and died in a Zagreb prison hospital on 25 August 2006.
The surviving siblings, Dušan and Gordana, sued the Republic of Croatia with the assistance of attorneys Ante Nobilo and Mara Mihočević. In the spring of 2004, the government of Ivo Sanader agreed to a settlement, compensating the family 1,500,000 Croatian kuna. The killings later inspired a novel, a film, and a stage play.
11 dated entries · 1991–2015
The Zec family home near Zagreb is surrounded; Mihajlo, Marija, and 12-year-old Aleksandra Zec are killed, while two other children escape.
The Supreme Court of Croatia reviews and remands the case after an initial not-guilty verdict.
The County Court in Zagreb again returns a not-guilty verdict for the accused.
Siniša Rimac receives the Order of Nikola Šubić Zrinski, awarded by then-President Franjo Tuđman.
The separate 'Pakračka poljana' case, involving the same unit, is first brought to trial.
The government of Ivo Sanader agrees to a settlement, compensating the surviving Zec siblings 1,500,000 Croatian kuna.
Rimac, Suljić and Mikola are convicted in the separate 'Pakračka poljana' case for the murder of Aleksandar Antić.
Nebojša Hodak is sentenced to one year in prison in a separate attempted-extortion case.
Munib Suljić surrenders to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague.
Munib Suljić dies in a prison hospital in Zagreb.
Igor Mikola is extradited to Croatia to serve the remainder of his 'Pakračka poljana' sentence.
9 named in this file
Victims first. Every legal label is set from public records and court outcomes, not from the prose.
12-year-old daughter; abducted and killed in the Medvednica mountain area on 7 December 1991.[3]
Surviving child who hid and escaped the attack; later a plaintiff in the 2004 compensation settlement against the Republic of Croatia.[3]
Surviving child who hid and escaped the attack; later a plaintiff in the 2004 compensation settlement against the Republic of Croatia.[3]
Mother; abducted and killed in the Medvednica mountain area on 7 December 1991.[3]
Father, a butcher; fatally shot near the family home in Zagreb on 7 December 1991.[3]
One of four men named as surrounding the Zec home. Tried and acquitted in 1992. Later convicted as an accessory in the separate 'Pakračka poljana' case (2005) and sentenced to five years; extradited to Croatia in 2015.[3]
One of four men named as surrounding the Zec home. Tried and acquitted in 1992. Later convicted in the separate 'Pakračka poljana' case (2005), sentenced to ten years; surrendered to the ICTY in June 2006 and died in a Zagreb prison hospital on 25 August 2006.[3]
One of four men named as surrounding the Zec home. Tried and acquitted in 1992. Later sentenced to one year in a separate attempted-extortion case (June 2005).[3]
One of four men named as surrounding the Zec home; a witness identified him as having shot Mihajlo Zec. Tried and acquitted by the County Court in Zagreb in 1992. Later convicted in the separate 'Pakračka poljana' case (2005) and sentenced to eight years.[3]
3 cited
Coverage is not a source: every fact in this file rests on the records below.
PressThe New York TimesAccessed Jul 5, 2026
Pressindex.hrAccessed Jul 5, 2026
EncyclopedicWikipediaAccessed Jul 5, 2026
Trust
Are you family of someone named in this file? Corrections and removal requests from victims’ families are prioritized.
Near this case
SOLVEDListenSanski Most Gymnasium, Sanski Most · 2020s
On 21 August 2024, a school janitor killed three employees at Sanski Most Gymnasium in Bosnia and Herzegovina with an automatic rifle before attempting suicide; he was later convicted and sentenced to 42 years' imprisonment.
SOLVEDListenGraz, Austria · 2010s
On 20 June 2015, Alen Rizvanović drove a sport utility vehicle through the centre of Graz, Austria, killing three people and stabbing two more before driving to a police station and surrendering; a fourth victim died in hospital months later. He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2016, and was found dead in his prison cell in September 2023, in a death ruled a suicide.
Robin Hood Hills, West Memphis, Arkansas · 1990s
Three eight-year-old boys were found murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas, in 1993; three teenagers were convicted the following year in a case marked by disputed evidence, allegations of coerced confession, and claims of a Satanic motive, and were released in 2011 after entering Alford pleas.
Credit: Photo by Calvin Beale, as an employee of the Economic Research Service, part of the…·Public domain·SourceSOLVEDListenMadison, Jefferson County, Indiana · 1992
In January 1992, twelve-year-old Shanda Sharer was abducted and killed in southern Indiana by four teenage girls, all charged as adults; each pleaded guilty and received prison sentences.
Credit: en:User:Paul.h·Public domain·SourceSOLVEDListenPetaluma, California, United States · 1993
Polly Hannah Klaas, a 12-year-old girl, was abducted at knifepoint from her home in Petaluma, California, on October 1, 1993, and later found murdered. Richard Allen Davis was convicted of first-degree murder in 1996 and sentenced to death.
SOLVEDListenZadar Gymnasium (now Vladimir Nazor Gymnasium), Zadar · 1972
On 9 October 1972, a 19-year-old student shot two teachers at Zadar Gymnasium in SR Croatia, Yugoslavia; one died at the scene and the other later in hospital. The shooter was convicted and sentenced to 15 years.
