The critical day of testimony has arrived for the defendants in the murder case of the 43-year-old Polish professor in Agia Paraskevi. After a postponement request was approved, the five defendants will present their defense today, Monday (21/7), before the court.
Polish professor murder: Defendants testify today
Five individuals are in the dock for the murder of Przemyslaw Gziowski. The 43-year-old ex-wife of the victim faces charges of moral complicity and accessory to murder. Her 35-year-old partner is charged as the physical perpetrator of the murder, while three additional individuals, including a 16-year-old, face accessory charges.
A significant development is that the 35-year-old has taken full responsibility for the act, according to information from the court.
The plan that failed
Despite attempts to create an apparently perfect scheme, this “contract killing” as experienced police officials characterize it, revealed critical weaknesses. The miscalculations and gaps in planning ultimately led to the crime’s exposure.
The day before the murder, the defendant charged with moral complicity had organized a meeting with a psychologist in Chalandri. The noon appointment concerned a family session to prepare the children for their planned move with their father to the United States.
The 35-year-old perpetrator’s confession
In his statement, the 35-year-old described the motives for the act: “We were afraid he could take the children away from Greece permanently. When he came for the court hearing, we became even more frightened”. The court hearing was scheduled for June 30, and the decision was issued on July 3.
That evening, the defendant informed his partner that he would travel to Nafplio for vacation. Considering the Polish man’s presence in Athens an opportunity, he decided to proceed with executing the plan.
Recruiting the accomplices
In Nafplio, the 35-year-old contacted his future accomplices. According to the Bulgarian accomplice, he presented false information: “He told me they would intimidate someone in Athens who was abusing his children”.
The Bulgarian accomplice described the approach: “He came urgently to Tolo, to the shop where I work, and asked me to find people for transport to Athens. He said his partner made him do it because she didn’t want to give up the children”. The accomplices agreed to participate only in an assault for payment, not in murder. That evening, the partner delivered a bag containing the weapon to be used.
Crime preparation and the path to death
The defendant bought the weapon in Omonia and organized cooperation with one Bulgarian and two Albanians. As soon as he learned the target was in Athens, he immediately activated the plan.
In the early hours of July 4, the two Albanian accomplices along with the main perpetrator departed from Nafplio to Athens. To create an alibi, the 35-year-old handed over his car keys and mobile phone to the third accomplice.
During transport, the physical perpetrator remained hidden in the back seats, covered with a blue towel to avoid camera detection. The precaution continued when he boarded the rented Porsche in Petroupoli. The team arrived in Chalandri where the psychology session was in progress. The attack was possibly initially planned there. The procedure lasted two hours, during which the executor changed clothes in the car.
The final phase of the plan
After the session, the parents agreed the father would pick up the children at 4:00 PM from the mother’s house in Agia Paraskevi. Simultaneously, the Porsche Cayenne headed toward Agia Paraskevi via Attiki Odos, with the route recorded by cameras.
At 3:00 PM the vehicle parked near the intersection of Eirinis and Evergetou Giavasis streets, a point with visual contact toward the children’s “pickup point”. The car remained there until seconds before the murder.
Minor’s involvement in the crime
To avoid direct communications, the couple used the executor’s 14-year-old son as an intermediary. The child carried instructions between the two adults, unwittingly becoming involved in the criminal scheme.
From 2:05 PM to 5:29 PM on the day of the murder, numerous conversations were recorded between the ex-wife and her partner’s son. At a critical moment, the 35-year-old communicated via Signal with his son, receiving information about the target’s arrival.
The evidence
Police managed to recover two photographs the victim took while leaving Chalandri. Through forensic laboratories, it was revealed that this specific location had been initially selected for the ambush.
For unknown reasons, the plan was transferred to Agia Paraskevi, where the couple had agreed after the psychology session that the professor would pick up his children. Evidence from the police investigation reasonably suggests the deadly ambush may have been initially set up below the child psychologist’s office in Chalandri where the two ex-spouses met with their children to find a common solution to their custody issues.
It appears the Berkeley Polish professor noticed strange behavior from his ex-wife. In a video call the victim made with his mother after the session ended, he mentioned, among other things, that his ex-wife photographed him as he was getting into a taxi when leaving the location. She temporarily went to a café with her children, possibly waiting to see where the victim would head. This incident was mentioned in testimony by the victim’s mother when she came to Greece the day after her son’s murder. These two photographs were recovered from the ex-wife’s phone after she had deleted them, possibly taken so the executor would know his clothing and movements – though authorities couldn’t determine the recipient.
The perpetrator himself changed clothes at the location and put on the jacket he wore during the murder. For unknown reasons, he didn’t carry out the attack there and they returned to Agia Paraskevi with the rented luxury SUV, where he set up the deadly ambush. At the scene, it was determined that when the victim called his ex-wife saying he had arrived, one minute before the murder, she immediately informed the perpetrator’s 14-year-old son, who then informed the perpetrator, who came out and shot him in cold blood.
