Thessaloniki: 22 years in prison for 63-year-old man who locked himself and children in car and opened gas cylinder

A mixed jury in Thessaloniki sentenced to 22 years and nine months in prison a 63-year-old retired air force man who opened a gas cylinder while locked in a car with his children.

Was found guilty

He was found guilty of attempted serial murder (of his wife and children), attempted bombing likely to endanger people, causing bodily harm to his pregnant wife during marriage, and illegal possession of a weapon. The court did not provide him with any mitigating circumstances, and after sentencing he returned to prison.

The incident that shocked the entire country took place in March 2023 in Melissochori and the twin brothers, who were two and a half years old, are in good health after hospitalization. The defendant’s ex-wife and mother of his two children told the court that they met in 2016 and got married a year later. Although the man seemed like a good person to her, within a few months he began to show cruelty. “Three months after we met, he grabbed me by the throat out of nerves. We broke up for a short time, but he left the house and cried. I forgave him.”“, she says, talking about living together with him.

Regarding the physical injuries that the accused inflicted on her during her married life, the woman said that she was two months pregnant when his behavior towards her changed. “He threw things like ashtrays, glasses and anything else he could get his hands on. One day, when he didn’t get his way, he grabbed me by the neck and started shaking me. I was 42 at the time and pregnant with twins. I was “I was in danger. I had bruises from the tackle and I was scared.”

Another incident of violence reported by the woman occurred shortly before the christening of their children in the summer of 2021, when the accused hit her on the head with a baby diaper for a trivial reason. “It was humiliating and I asked for help” she said, referring to other incidents, noting the man had been convicted of domestic violence and was on parole.

He wanted to kill us

Regarding the incident on March 19, 2023: “At 8 pm he was supposed to return the children. He arrived and stopped right at the house in his car. I got out of the car and before I opened the door I smelled a strange smell.” she said, adding that she did not see the accused get out of the car.

“He looked me in the eyes, pointed to the pipe he had in his mouth, and immediately took a lighter and lit it.” she said, noting that she ran into the house to call the police. The woman, she said, yelled at the man to get the children out of the car. I told him: “I’ll come if you want. The police arrived very quickly. I was afraid that he would blow us all up. As soon as the police arrived, they tried to tell him to come out, and then his eldest son appeared. I gave them a hoe, and they They broke the glass with it. There was panic. The children were unconscious – says the woman. – I saw the flame from the lighter light up. He wanted to blow me and the children up. His eyes were… bad,” she said elsewhere in her statement.”

“He was going to burn my children.”

One of the police officers called to investigate the incident that day described his experiences and moments of panic, telling the court he feared for his life. “When we arrived, the mother came out of the door of the house and shouted “help, save the children.” We had a call for a domestic incident, and I didn’t immediately understand what was happening. It smelled of gas, but I thought it was a fuel gas leak in the car “, – the officer testifies.

The wife screamed “help, she’s going to burn my children”, and then I walked up to the driver’s side and couldn’t see from the waist up. I knocked on the window and asked: “Sir, can you hear me?” The window was barely open, and I saw the receiver. The accused was unconscious and fell forward, I thought he was reading on his cell phone or texting something like that. There were rags on the glass. When my colleague took them off, he smelled a strong smell of gas, but I kept thinking it was from car fuel, we couldn’t figure it out. I tried to open the door behind the driver. I saw children, one had his mouth and eyes open, he turned his little head, as if looking out. This image stayed with me. We couldn’t open the doors. I asked the center to immediately call an ambulance and a fire brigade.”he added.

According to the officer’s statement, the man had white foam and brown liquid oozing from his mouth. He then described how he and his colleague made frantic efforts to break the windows and pull out the two children and the accused, while his son, who arrived on the scene, helped them in this.

“There were two lighters on the passenger seat, and behind him, at the feet of one of the children, there was an open cylinder with liquefied gas, and the gas was coming out from under his feet. As soon as we pulled them out, one child vomited. The driver was unconscious, at one point he just opened his eyes, looked at me, and I asked him, “What did you do, guy?” and he bowed his head again. I kept telling my colleague to be careful, and that “we it’s bad here” because I was afraid for my life that a spark could cause an explosion,” he said.

“I would never hurt them.”

In his statement, the accused tried to convince the court that he had no intention of killing his children and wife, and argued that “staged” the whole incident to call the police, arrest them and take them to court so he could… talk to the judges. “I took all these steps to appear before you,” he said, calling it a strong reaction and reckless, but completely controlled. Explaining why he needed the cylinders in his car, he stated that he bought them for barbecuing because he uses them to make sauces and jams.

“I had two, and one was almost gone, so I bought more. I put the one with less gas in the car, and the second one in the trunk. I wanted to somehow scare my wife so that she would call the police, and I could give up. I could easily scare her with a staging. I wanted to convince her that there was danger. They wouldn’t believe me if the cylinder was empty.”– he said.

“I also put the kids in the car, took the hose and put it out the window. I took a towel and put it there. I had two lighters that I found in the glove compartment. To set it all up. The children were sleeping. I opened the tank when I found myself on the opposite side of the street from my wife’s house. I parked to see when she would come out, to give that impression and not endanger my children. When I saw that she came out, I walked towards the house. I left the passenger and rear windows open, to release the smell. I closed them in front of her eyes, as well as the fuses. Then I turned on the lights in the car and turned the air conditioning on low. The lights were on. I showed her the lighter, but did not turn it on, and also showed her the hose. I saw that she reacted, she was scared. She tried to open the door, but could not, she left, and then I closed the tank and waited for me to give up. I immediately closed it, I did not want to hurt my children. I would never “I didn’t harm my wife and children. The situation was completely under control, I was upset and I did it.” – he noted.

“He wanted to take them with him to death.”

The defendant’s guilt for the acts of which he is accused was also confirmed by the court prosecutor, emphasizing that he “I wanted to cause an explosion and take them with me to death.” This was the intention of the accused. He knew and wanted to cause an explosion. The explosion of two ten-kilogram gas cylinders, even if one of them was not full, could cause enormous destruction, injure and kill more people.”.

Regarding the defendant’s apology and what he alleged, the prosecutor noted that this “doesn’t stand up to any logic.”

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