Dramatic new developments are emerging in the double murder case in Aigio, as the chilling crime that took place in the Longos area several months ago takes an even darker turn. According to information that has come to light, 54-year-old Maria was found lying in a pool of blood inside her home, her body bearing wounds from multiple stab wounds across her entire body, while her son, 26-year-old Olympios, was discovered with a gunshot wound to the head and several stab wounds to his body.
The forensic pathologist’s emerging theory that changes everything in the Aigio case
While all evidence up to this point has pointed to the 65-year-old Italian partner of the mother as the prime suspect and perpetrator of the horrific crime — and he remains in custody at Korydallos Prison to this day — a new theory is now turning everything previously known on its head. According to the Greek television program Live News, the autopsy findings do not indicate the involvement or participation of a third party in the Aigio double murder. Autopsy photographs reportedly show no wound on the 54-year-old woman’s back, contradicting the initial findings of a forensic pathologist from Patras, while injuries found on the woman’s wrists are consistent with superficial cuts that are more typical of previous suicide attempts.
As was revealed just days ago, the Greek FBI is now treating as its leading theory the possibility of a murder followed by suicide. More specifically, investigators are exploring whether the mother was the one who killed her son before taking her own life. This conclusion stems from the fact that autopsy photographs show no blow to the back, as was initially reported, and that the defensive wounds found on the mother’s hands are located on the wrist — a type of wound also found in other suicide cases and commonly regarded as a tentative, “test” wound made before the fatal self-inflicted stabbing.
According to new information presented today by Live News, the forensic pathologist — who has yet to submit the final autopsy report, as toxicology results are still pending — has identified as the most probable scenario that the 54-year-old mother stabbed herself repeatedly until she died. This conclusion is drawn from the nature of her wounds: she reportedly sustained multiple deep stab wounds across various parts of her body, yet none of them were post-mortem injuries. While this alone does not conclusively prove that she was the killer, it brings to the surface a perspective that is almost impossible for the human mind to comprehend.
The mysterious phone call and the covered body
One of the key pieces of evidence now under the microscope of investigators is a phone call the mother allegedly made to 26-year-old Olympios shortly before he travelled to Aigio. According to reports, she told him: “They’ve made me want to hurt you.” This particular phrase is being examined with exceptional care, as investigators are working to determine whether it conceals any information that might explain the events that followed. Meanwhile, laboratory findings gathered so far continue to be evaluated. According to sources, no blood-stained fingerprints belonging to the Italian have been found inside the house, nor has any of his genetic material been detected on the weapon or the knife currently under examination. Additionally, no gunshot residue was found on his hands, while DNA belonging to her son was found beneath Maria’s fingernails. These elements do not lead to safe conclusions on their own, but they are being assessed alongside all other evidence in the case file. The forensic pathologist’s final report — still yet to be submitted — is also considered critically important. Information to date indicates that the wounds found on the mother’s hand were superficial, and investigators are now exploring the possibility that they were self-inflicted test wounds. According to the same sources, no defensive wounds or injuries to the back were identified, while the stab wounds to the chest appear to be concentrated in a single area.
There is, however, one more piece of evidence that has drawn the attention of experts and is considered especially significant in reconstructing the final moments before the crime. This relates to the way in which Olympios’s body was found. According to reports, the 26-year-old was found covered with a blanket — a detail that, according to international criminological literature, does not go unnoticed. On the contrary, in many homicide cases this is considered an indication that the perpetrator maintained a close emotional bond with the victim. Experts describe this behavior as a form of “post-mortem care” — meaning that after committing the act, the perpetrator attempts to cover the body because they are unable to look at the victim, feel guilt or shame for what they have done, or in a final symbolic act of protection toward someone with whom they shared a powerful emotional connection.
What the 65-year-old defendant has said about the 54-year-old
The Italian defendant spoke about the condition of the 54-year-old from the very beginning. “In the months following her surgery, I discovered that Maria had been drinking alcohol secretly and had started smoking again. Ten days before the incident, Maria had become aggressive and verbally attacked me. During a phone call with Olympios, he asked me, ‘How do you see my mother?’ and I told him I didn’t think she was doing very well, and he suggested she should see a psychiatrist. One day he called me and said, ‘Take her now and bring her to a psychiatrist.’ And so I took her and brought her to the psychiatric clinic in Rio,” he said.
He has insisted from the very beginning that he is innocent, and suggests that the 54-year-old killed her son before taking her own life. “I made a big mistake. Maria’s condition was beyond what a psychiatrist could handle — it required something far more serious. I am certain she should have been admitted to a psychiatric institution. One day I was cleaning fish when she suddenly started screaming, and I saw that she had cut her left hand — though not very deeply. I didn’t want us to go to the doctor. My mistake was not reporting that incident when I brought her to the psychiatric clinic in Rio.”
He also stated: “One time she had spoken to me aggressively and struck me on the arm. Some mornings before, I had woken up and noticed something black on the floor. I asked Maria what it was, and she said it was nothing. Two or three days before the incident, after Olympios had arrived from Berlin, we went for a coffee and he told me, ‘Do you know what happened last night? I saw Maria holding an empty bottle of tsipouro and a knife, and she was trying to unlock her phone. She took out the battery and set it on fire in the kitchen sink.’ I hadn’t seen this myself — Olympios told me. So the black mark I had noticed must have been from the burnt battery. At that point she was already taking the medication the doctors at the Rio psychiatric clinic had prescribed. I remember thinking, ‘What on earth is going on here?’ and Olympios said to me, ‘Don’t worry, Marco, I’ll make an appointment with a psychiatrist,’ and he did.”
What is “altruistic filicide”?
Altruistic filicide is a tragic form of maternal infanticide in which a mother kills her child out of extreme “love,” falsely believing she is sparing them from unbearable suffering, incurable illness, or future misery. This act is often combined with the mother’s own suicide, driven by the desire not to leave the child alone in the world. Mental health experts categorize this psychological state into the following primary motivations:
- Severe depression or psychosis: The mother experiences extreme delusional thoughts, believing the child is in immediate danger and that death is the only solution.
- Incurable illness or disability: The parent feels incapable of managing the child’s physical or psychological suffering, becoming convinced they are releasing them from pain.
Under Greek law, the crime of filicide is specifically addressed by Article 303 of the Penal Code, while forensically it is approached through a multi-factor analysis with particular emphasis on the perpetrator’s mental state at the time of the act.
