«The police are doing a good job. The officers will find the culprit…», the 33-year-old pilot told the media. And he was right. The «kids» did their job very well and found the killer. Except that it was him. A truth that, even though all the evidence pointed to it, is very bitter—like a bitter medicine that, no matter how much water you drink, leaves a bitter taste in your mouth. A bitter truth that feels as if it has lodged in the… throat of our society.
Let’s first address this truth that has shocked public opinion in Greece—and beyond. Even if the evidence, from the very beginning, had led the police to consider the 33-year-old as the prime suspect, the evidence had to be gathered methodically, leaving no room for even the slightest error. The majority of society, which has now turned into a prosecutor, had been shaken by the tragedy of pilot, who spoke with ease in media for the difficult times he is going through. A misjudgment would lead to… the law enforcement authorities seizing his keyboard.
From the very beginning The police officers acted with professionalism and… surgical precision in the face of such a unique situation. They made the most of their expertise and technology, and, for the first time—at least in Greece—a person was deemed a suspect and, within based on the readings from the victim's biometric watch, a high-tech gadget that improves physical fitness but, in this case, «exposed» her husband’s contradictions. A husband who could have made a career as a screenwriter or an actor but, as it turned out, He was not fit to be a husband or a father.
During the quarantine, the confessed murderer must have watched plenty of violent movies. So many, in fact, that he even put himself in the protagonist’s shoes. Before murdering his wife, He removed the memory card from the cameras so that there would be no witnesses to his own version of events. He didn’t hesitate to hang even the family dog in order to convince people of the existence of bloodthirsty murderers and thieves. She tied it up in a masterful way—surely copied from some movie—and the climax of her screenwriting inspiration was the phone call to the police using… its nose. After that, «the kids» took over.
In each of his statements, he praised the role of the Greek Police as if he wanted to find allies. The other allies he sought out were media representatives: He was polite to them and, for the most part, responded to all their calls with text messages, believing that this would win their support. His other ally was public opinion. The «heartbroken» husband found time to go on social media to respond to strangers who were expressing their support for him. A talented actor who had really gotten into character…
An actor who lived out the script he had written for himself. Greek society was living in fear, thinking of bloodthirsty murderers who suffocate young women and hang little dogs, while the pilot was the protagonist of his own story. A few days ago, I took a tour of the Korydallos prisons. I spoke with inmates who are considered «hardened.» All of them were shocked by the crime, and wondered if such ruthless murderers had come to Greece. Quite a few inmates serving long sentences told me that penalties for crimes of this kind should be made more severe, while others even spoke of reinstating the death penalty. And yet the crime had not been committed by some bloodthirsty criminal, but by a man right next door.
A person with an economic and social status that He became the screenwriter of his own life's downfall. A man who committed a crime—two, if we count the little dog—that the mind cannot easily comprehend. A man who killed a girl who, at the tender age of 15, had entrusted her life to his experienced hands. This crime will continue to shock and send shockwaves through society until another… scenario emerges, involving yet another deranged individual. However, as parents, we have a moral obligation to «educate» our children to respect the wishes of others. Only in this way can we minimize the «bitter truths» that shock our society.
