Irini Mourtzoukou confessed to the murders of four infants as she is being transported to Patras to appear before an investigator and prosecutor. Specifically, according to information, Irini Mourtzoukou confessed to the murders of three infants (two of her own and Katerina’s), as well as her sister.
How Irini Mourtzoukou was arrested
Police knew every move of the 25-year-old, so as soon as the arrest warrant was issued, they went to the hotel where she had been staying for the past week, in Omonia. They waited for her and when she appeared, they arrested her, while she was taken by surprise. The hotel employee stated characteristically: “As soon as the arrest was made, she was surprised at first,” while mentioning that she did not resist at all.
The common histological findings of pathologists regarding brain hypoxia and the starry sky phenomenon in the thymus gland that all three infants presented led scientists to the likely explanation of asphyxial death. Combined with dozens of testimonies that had been taken, which directly pointed to Irini Mourtzoukou and the fact that she had been alone with the children, this led the Justice system to issue the warrant.
The lawyer of the deceased infant’s mother (2021), Vasiliki Ntzelve, emphasized that everyone concluded that the death did not result from pathological causes. At the same time, she argued that for the Prosecutor’s Office to pursue criminal prosecution at the felony level and for serial and continuing homicides, the evidence is complete. The case of the last infant, Panagiotakis, as well as her brother are being examined in separate case files, which are still under investigation. For Panagiotakis, it is estimated that the forensic pathologists’ report will be given in the coming months, while for her brother the case has been time-barred.
A team of scientists, two pathologists, a pathologist and a neurologist, had been assigned to study the case and find evidence. It should be noted that they did not analyze existing reports, but the actual histological samples, which had been kept for each case. For every finding that the scientists discovered, police asked a series of questions, such as whether each finding could be justified by pathological causes, by some infection or some virus, etc. When the answer was negative, inevitably came the question of whether there was a possibility that the factor was exogenous.
Specifically, the hypoxia which is the finding in the brain and the starry sky in the thymus gland, refers to the case of asphyxial death, according to the scientists’ report. This element, combined with more than 80 testimonies that were taken by the Homicide Department, in which the majority of witnesses target Irini Mourtzoukou, placing her alone with the children, led to her arrest.
