Karel Šťovíček was born in 1977 in the Czech Republic. His early years were marked by delinquency and violence. By his teenage years, he had already developed a pattern of criminal behavior, including theft and car fraud. In a disturbing early incident, a young Šťovíček stabbed his mother in the back during an altercation involving his stepfather. Despite the severity of the act, he was never prosecuted for it.

By the late 1990s, Šťovíček had formed a toxic partnership with his then-girlfriend, Věra Vondrová. The two targeted older men in a series of robberies where they used rohypnol to drug their victims before stealing from them. In 1998, just two months after being released from prison, they attempted a robbery that turned deadly. They lured a 63-year-old pensioner named Josef B. into a trap, during which they bound and gagged him, leading to his suffocation. Although the killing was not considered premeditated, Šťovíček was convicted of being an accessory to murder and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Life behind bars was brutal. Šťovíček was repeatedly assaulted by fellow inmates and even sent threatening letters to the prison director, resulting in a sentence extension of two years. After serving a total of 16 years, he was released and attempted to rebuild his life. He fathered three children with a new partner and briefly found financial security after inheriting property and money from his stepfather’s pig feedlot business. However, he quickly squandered the inheritance due to alcoholism and poor financial decisions. Locals later described him as someone who sought validation from strangers in bars by buying them drinks, avoiding anyone who knew his criminal past.

After years of trying and failing to reintegrate into society, Karel Šťovíček returned to violence in the summer of 2020. On 25 July, he met 35-year-old Lucie J. at the "U Alenky" bar in Rovensko pod Troskami. Lucie, upset after an argument with her boyfriend, agreed to take a walk with Šťovíček. Once they were alone, he forced her to perform oral sex. When she threatened to report him to the police, he bludgeoned her with a wine bottle and then strangled her using a waist belt. He dumped her body in a nearby field, where it was discovered two days later. After the murder, investigators would later learn he had searched “life imprisonment” online, possibly contemplating his fate.

Less than two weeks later, in the early hours of 5 August 2020, Šťovíček repeated his pattern. He encountered 39-year-old Stanislava H. at the “Nový život” pub and convinced her to join him for a walk along the Jizera river. After luring her to a secluded area, he once again forced her to perform oral sex, then strangled her using the strap of her handbag. He threw her body into the river, where it was discovered later that day by a passerby.

Police had already started considering Šťovíček a person of interest after Lucie’s murder, but lacked sufficient evidence to arrest him. After Stanislava’s death, the mounting suspicion led to his arrest on 7 August 2020. Upon being taken into custody, Šťovíček confessed to both 2020 murders without resistance. Public outrage erupted over the fact that he had not been detained after the first killing. The GIBS (General Inspection of Security Forces) launched an investigation into law enforcement's handling of the case.

Šťovíček was formally charged and chose to accept a plea deal in 2021, avoiding a full trial. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 30 years. Prosecutor Lenka Faltusová explained that while Šťovíček did not suffer from any diagnosable mental illness, he was deemed fundamentally incapable of reintegrating into society. Although he admitted guilt, he argued that a 20-year sentence would have been more appropriate. He waived his right to appeal and agreed to pay 11 million korunas in damages to the victims' families.

Despite the plea deal, his crimes remain deeply disturbing to the Czech public, particularly due to his earlier violent record and the opportunity he had to kill again after being released from prison. Šťovíček now serves his sentence under high security, with no sign of remorse beyond his courtroom admissions.