Vangelis Stefanakis became known in 2013 for one of the most brutal crimes that captivated Greek public opinion. He was convicted for the savage beating and murder of 23-year-old Faii Blaxa, while his relationship with the victim’s sister and his attempt to cover up the crime shocked society. From then on and for the next twelve years, Stefanakis remained in prison, serving a life sentence. However, he died suddenly during a legal prison leave at his home, enjoying the company of a young woman in Spata, at the very moment his current partner was giving birth to his son.
Vangelis Stefanakis: The expensive cars and businesses he maintained through third parties
The news of his death on July 24 brought back to the forefront a series of questions that had remained unanswered: his financial status, expensive cars, businesses he maintained through third parties, and his connections with organized crime figures. However, “PARAPOLITIKA” also captures aspects of his life that reveal elements of his relationship with far-right networks and his involvement in paramilitary activities.
Just a few months before the unexpected death of 23-year-old Faii, the then 24-year-old Vangelis Stefanakis had already left his mark on the authorities in the summer of 2012. Although previously flagged for minor offenses, that summer he publicly attacked a former municipal councilor of Agia Paraskevi and member of the Communist Party. We’re talking about Giorgos Tsimpouakis, who also testified in the famous Golden Dawn trial.
According to what Mr. Tsimpouakis claimed in court, Vangelis Stefanakis had appeared in Agia Paraskevi Square with a car decorated in military colors, and the attacker also had a pit bull dog with him, apparently intended to terrorize: “It was the intermediate pre-election period. The second elections. Behind Agia Paraskevi Square there were booths of many parties, New Democracy, PASOK, ANTARSYA and ours. Some people got out of a vehicle with military-style appearance, with a pit bull dog, which is an aggressive dog. They walked around the square and returned to the booth, only the Communist Party one, shouting ‘Old communists, you will die,’ ‘leave here tonight.'”
The perpetrator broke a water pistol on the victim’s head, then returned hitting him with brass knuckles: “He started hitting me on the head. The water pistol broke. It went into my skin. Some people tried to immobilize him and on the second attempt he pulled out brass knuckles and delivered more blows to me,” he said and added: “The defendant, who has been sentenced to 37 months for serious bodily harm, weapon possession and use, as he was leaving said ‘you’ll see who Ilias is,'” implying that the then young Stefanakis was praising… Ilias Kasidiaris.
Ties with figures connected to the Greek Mafia
From 2013 until recently, Vangelis Stefanakis’s life continued, after Faii’s murder, behind prison bars. After eight years of imprisonment, he gained the right to legal leaves. From 2021 onwards, his outings were regular. In the meantime, it seems he was setting up something that resembled a parallel reality. With his new partner, they struggled with IVF to bring a child into the world. They succeeded. However, he didn’t get to meet the child. His death came just hours before his son’s birth.
Stefanakis was not a typical prisoner. Although imprisoned, he reportedly had acquired financial prominence that was difficult to explain. He appeared to maintain – through third parties – businesses: a gas station, a café, even participation in a beach bar. At the house where he breathed his last, police found two weapons and a Ferrari. This combination is not easily encountered: a lifer, but with the lifestyle of a nightlife figure. Information suggests Stefanakis had developed ties with figures connected to the so-called Greek Mafia. The reference to the name of Giorgos Moschouris, the man who was executed with a Kalashnikov in Chalandri, is reportedly not coincidental. The two met inside prison and, according to certain assessments, this acquaintance may have laid the foundations for a network of influence and power extending beyond the walls. As police sources report, the findings in the deceased’s possession are being thoroughly investigated: weapons, assets, electronic devices. The autopsy and especially the toxicological results are considered decisive. Information is already circulating that Stefanakis was on anabolic hormone treatment and had consumed Viagra shortly before his death.
“Published in Parapolitika newspaper”
