Woman Saws Off Her Own Hand For Cash, Lands In Jail

Julija Adlesic did not just file an insurance claim, she tried to manufacture the kind of disaster that cashes checks fast. In 2019, the 20-year-old severed her own left hand with a circular saw, then rushed to the hospital like she had no control over what happened.

But the story got messy fast, because she was not doing it alone. Her boyfriend, along with his parents, allegedly helped stage the scene in their Ljubljana home, and prosecutors said the whole thing was planned to look accidental. Adlesic had signed contracts with five insurers, aiming for about $1.1 million, with half paid up front if the claim was approved.

What makes it extra chilling is how the evidence showed this was not a sudden tragedy, it was a scheme that unraveled the moment investigators found what she tried to leave behind.

The circular saw plan, paired with Adlesic’s five separate insurance contracts, is what made the “accident” story sound too perfectly timed to be real.

In an astonishing act driven by financial desperation, Julija Adlesic, a Slovenian woman, found herself entangled in a legal nightmare after severing her own hand. The incident, which occurred in 2019, was not an unfortunate accident but a deliberate attempt to defraud insurance companies for a substantial sum of money.

Adlesic, along with her accomplice, her boyfriend, concocted a plan to make it appear as an accident in their home in Ljubljana, using a circular saw to carry out the grim deed.

Then investigators recovered the missing hand, and suddenly Adlesic and her boyfriend’s version of events looked like a script they forgot to edit.

The plot was simple yet macabre: sever the left hand above the wrist, rush to the hospital, and leave the severed hand behind to prevent reattachment, ensuring a permanent disability that would presumably validate their insurance claim.

Adlesic had previously signed contracts with five different insurance companies, standing to gain a whopping $1.1 million, with half of the amount payable immediately upon approval of the claim.

It’s a lot like the Reddit debate over lending money to a friend with a debt history, after the fear of nonpayment.

Prosecutors also pointed to the boyfriend researching artificial hands just days before, which turned a horror story into something investigators treated as premeditated fraud.

However, the scheme quickly fell apart when authorities, alerted to the 'accident,' managed to recover the missing hand, casting doubt on the couple's story. The investigation revealed a premeditated act of fraud, especially after discovering that Adlesic's partner had researched artificial hands just days before the incident.

Despite Adlesic's claims of innocence and her lament over the loss of her youth and her hand at such a young age, the court found overwhelming evidence of guilt.

Even after Adlesic tried to explain how her youth was “destroyed,” the court still handed her a three-year sentence, later cut on appeal, and she walked free in 2022.

In a trial that captured public attention, Adlesic, her boyfriend, and his parents faced justice. Adlesic argued vehemently against the accusations, stating, "No one wants to be crippled. My youth has been destroyed. I lost my hand at the age of 20. Only I know how it happened."

Yet, the evidence was irrefutable. The court sentenced her to three years in prison, while her boyfriend received a slightly lesser sentence. In a twist, Adlesic's sentence was reduced on appeal, and she was released from prison in 2022 after serving just a year behind bars.

She wanted insurance money for a permanent loss, but she ended up paying for it with her freedom.

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