UC Berkeley professor in Athens murdered: The suspect thinks that he has acted for ex-wife

UC Berkeley professor in Athens murdered: The suspect thinks that he has acted for ex-wife

On the morning of July 4th, an American marketing professor went on the way to the house of his ex-wife in Athens to pick up her two young children. This visit would have been inconspicuous, albeit should be tense - the couple had apparently argued about the conditions of custody.

the fatal incident

But Przemyslaw Jeziorski never reached the front door. In the middle of the day, in this typically quiet suburb of the Greek capital, according to the police, he was shot several times. Jeziorski died at the point where he fell, his body littered with gunshot wounds, which were documented in gruesome photos after the incident.

as eyewitnesses hurried for help, the masked perpetrator fled.

the perpetrator and the motif

The alleged perpetrator, who was arrested 12 days later because of intentional murder, is the new partner of Jeziorski's ex-wife. According to his statement to the police, the motive was to prevent Jeziorski from eating the children. "I did all of this for you and our children so that we could lead a normal life without any problems," he said, according to a protocol of his statement after the arrest.

public interest and legal aspects

It is particularly noteworthy in this case that the statements of the alleged perpetrator and other suspicious large area through Greek media, including a CNN branch, suddenly seeped through. The statements that were verified by a high -ranking police source as authentically give an insight into the planning of the alleged murder and raise questions about who knew what and when. However, some central questions remain unclear, especially the role, if available, from Jeziorski's ex-wife.

According to the Greek police, she sees her moral accomplice plot, which she denies her according to her lawyer. As with all suspects in this case, their identity is known, but may not be published due to Greek legal restrictions.

The life of Przemyslaw Jeziorski

Jeziorski, who turned 43 and was nicknamed Przemek or "PJ", was a respected economist and professor of marketing at the Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley. Born in Poland, he moved to the United States in 2004 to study at the University of Arizona Economy and Mathematics and obtained his doctorate to Stanford.

"He was one of the sharpest heads I've ever met," said Robert Kowalski, a friend of the victim of Stanford. "He was a great guy, a genius in many ways." According to a explanation of the UC Berkeley, Jeziorski had "a passion for teaching" and conveyed data analysis skills at more than 1,500 master and doctoral students during his 13 years at the University.

the custody dispute

Jeziorski met his ex-wife, a Greek citizen, in San Francisco in 2013, and the couple married the following year. Her twins were born shortly afterwards. In 2015 they founded a start-up called Keybee, a platform for the management of short-term rentals.

The reasons for breaking apart the relationship are unclear, but they separated around 2020 after moving to Greece during the Covid pandemic. Her children are both US and Polish citizens and were waiting for a decision on Greek citizenship.

Jeziorski submitted the divorce, which was part of a long custody dispute around the children who ultimately lived with her mother in Greece, with the determination that her father, Jeziorski, was allowed to take her with her every summer.

the contradictory confessions

According to the custody judgment, which decided on July 3 that Jeziorski was allowed to take the children with them for a month, the main suspect decided that it was time to end "this martyrdom that we experienced," said the police. He bought a pistol months earlier and asked a friendly acquaintance from Bulgaria for help to “find Przemek and scare him.”

The confession outlines how the suspect acquired a firearm and, together with friends, traveled to Athens, where he knew that Jeziorski would pick up the children this afternoon. "I stepped up at him and shot him several times, but I don't remember how often," said the suspect. According to the police, Jeziorski died at the crime scene, where seven pods were found after the incident.

The consequences and the process

While the investigation progresses, the victim's family remains faced with the unimaginable tragedy. Jeziorski's brother made an explanation that "our family was broken, but grateful for the Greek authorities who carried out the arrests." Jeziorski's children are now in care in accordance with the Greek custody procedures. An online donation campaign was launched to convert his remains to Poland.

The five people who are charged will be offered on Monday the appointment for your hearing in court. The court date will be determined at a later date. The lawyer described that the family has the opportunity to raise the children in a loving and protected environment in Poland.