The three brothers wanted since Saturday afternoon as suspects in the double homicide in Borizia are expected to appear before the prosecutor and investigating magistrate of Heraklion today, Wednesday. All three surrendered to police at a gas station in the Agia Barbara area, on the road leading from Heraklion to Moires. Under heavy security measures, police transported them in conventional van-type vehicles to the Heraklion Police Headquarters, accompanied by strong police forces.
The three young men, like their wounded brother who is hospitalized at PAGNI and has already been arrested, are alleged to have participated in the gunfire exchange that resulted in the death of 39-year-old Fanouris Kargakis. Earlier, they witnessed their aunt, Evangelia Fragkiadaki, fall dead from a bullet fired by a man from a hilltop, approximately 30 meters away. The wife of one of the brothers, specifically Manousos, also arrived late Tuesday afternoon at the Heraklion Police Directorate to see her husband. Before entering the police offices, she spoke to parapolitika.gr about what happened in Borizia on Saturday morning.
“I was walking down the road with my husband from the school to go to our house. My husband didn’t have a weapon, I swear to you. Before we reached the stairs to go to our house, I see the black pickup truck with Fanouris coming towards us. Suddenly I hear gunshots and see my aunt, Evangelia, falling on the road. At the same time the car was coming and the 39-year-old had a pistol and Kalashnikov and was shooting at us. My husband pulled me to protect me and got me down,” said Efi Ximeraki.
She appealed for an end to the hostilities: “Both families have lost people. I ask the women of the Kargakis family to ensure this story ends here. We both sides have boys, no more lives should be lost. I hope an end comes, enough is enough, no more lives should be lost.”
According to journalistic sources, for security reasons, the prosecutor and investigating magistrate will visit the Heraklion Police Directorate today to press charges against the three young men who surrendered to authorities. This procedure is done for security reasons, to avoid any unforeseen incidents. It should be noted that the other brother of the three young men who surrendered late yesterday afternoon has already been arrested and is hospitalized under guard at PAGNI for the same case. As is their 30-year-old cousin. The latter two will testify on Thursday before the investigating magistrate and prosecutor.
What the three who surrendered claim about the Borizia massacre
Regarding the three brothers, they reportedly claim they were provoked by the Kargakis family and that they simply responded after seeing their aunt collapse bloodied to the ground. First their aunt was murdered, then another aunt was wounded, and subsequently 39-year-old Fanouris Kargakis was killed. Although it was said they would have the weapons used in the murder with them, this did not happen, with sources stating they will surrender them within the next 24 hours. One of the three brothers had found refuge in a hotel in the Kokkinos Pyrgos area, in Moires. For this reason, police brought the owner and his son in for questioning early yesterday evening.
The defense of the three accused has been undertaken by at least two lawyers, while the addition of another lawyer is not ruled out, possibly even today, beyond Alexandra Spanaki and Lefteris Kartsonas. Their task is quite difficult, as there are testimonies confirming the participation of the accused in the murder of the 39-year-old. However, without the weapons used by the brothers, the situation becomes complicated.
Meanwhile, police continue investigating the case. The file will be handed to the Prosecutor’s Office, but there are still many findings being analyzed in laboratories: mobile phones of victims and accused, shell casings from weapons, testimonies and a series of other evidence requiring further investigation. As everything indicates regarding the two murders, of 39-year-old Fanouris Kargakis and 56-year-old Evangelia Fragkiadaki, the perpetrators have been identified. The same is not true, however, for the perpetrator or perpetrators of the bombing attack on the house of one of the three brothers who surrendered yesterday afternoon. He is the 27-year-old from the Fragkiadaki family, whose house was blown up on Friday night, resulting in the bloodshed the next morning.
Under police scrutiny are mobile phones found in the cell of the 39-year-old’s brother at Nea Alikarnassos prison. Fanouris had visited him a few hours before the powerful bomb explosion. Police want to determine whether this was an action “ordered” by the temporarily detained brother of the 39-year-old and, mainly, whether they had communication before and after the two incidents.
It should be noted that the 39-year-old’s brother, son-in-law and nephew have been remanded in custody as they were arrested for livestock theft. The last three, according to testimonies from their relatives, consider a member of the Fragkiadaki family responsible for “informing” police, resulting in their arrest. Consequently, police suggest, it could have been a contract hit by a member of the Kargakis family. Something that, however, as they clarified, has not been proven so far, nor has any evidence emerged leading to this conclusion.
In Borizia, the situation shows no signs of de-escalation, and this is what most concerns the prosecuting authorities, who are seeking a solution for the future of this troubled village.
