The two doctors accused in the case surrounding the death of Giorgos Mazonakis are expected to appear before the investigating judge Monday to give their statements about what happened inside the private medical practice in Kolonaki, Athens where the singer suffered cardiac arrest during a plasmapheresis, a specialized extracorporeal treatment that filters a patient’s blood to remove toxins.
The two accused doctors will be asked to describe what took place inside the clinic from Mazonakis’ arrival on the afternoon of September 9 until paramedics entered the premises.
The doctors jointly face felony charges of endangerment resulting in death. Under the legal definition of the felony being investigated, Mazonakis was left without assistance and exposed to a fatal risk to his life while under the protection of the accused.
The two doctors are now giving their statements, while the singer’s family has already requested that the alleged offense be given a more serious legal classification, arguing that the couple’s overall conduct amounts to homicide with possible intent.
Authorities are attempting to reconstruct, minute by minute, what happened before the cardiac arrest and determine who was in the clinic, what medical procedures were performed and what condition the singer was in during the critical minutes.
Experts consider a complete reconstruction of events up to the point when EMTs found the singer in cardiac asystole to be of enormous importance in allowing judicial authorities to determine the exact circumstances of his unexpected death and establish any criminal responsibility. The results of specialized laboratory tests, including histological examinations, to be conducted as part of the forensic investigation are expected to shed light on the case.
During Monday’s proceedings, the two accused will be asked to provide their own answers regarding every piece of evidence available to authorities, as well as their claims, some of which appear to require clear clarification.
A key question is whether the singer was initially subjected to unlawful and wrongful treatment by undergoing a medical procedure without detailed blood, biochemical and other tests, if it is indeed established that he was not in good condition.
“I realized that he was in a very serious condition. He had a strange cough, an overexcitement,” the accused doctor told police about the singer’s condition on the evening of Tuesday, September 8. That afternoon, Giorgos Mazonakis went to the clinic in Kolonaki and scheduled an appointment for the following day.
The doctor, who identified her specialty as gynecology, said that on the day in question she began the medical procedure, during the first minutes of which the artist suffered cardiac arrest.
The doctor’s co-defendant said that Mazonakis was her client, that he was not at the clinic when the singer arrived and that he was notified to go to the clinic after the singer collapsed.
The contradictions
Serious contradictions between statements and critical times emerge from the case file now in the hands of the investigating judge.
The time Mazonakis’ medical procedure began, the time he suffered cardiac arrest, the time the accused doctor rushed to the clinic and the actions taken before the ambulance was called have all come under scrutiny in the criminal investigation. The couple will be asked to provide explanations for all of these points.
The defendants’ account of what happened until the singer was transported to the hospital will be compared with the evidence available to the judicial official, who is expected to question them about how the situation was handled.
They are also expected to be asked to explain specific actions taken at the clinic and involving objects after the ambulance left, without either of the two accompanying the singer inside the vehicle.
The accused will also apparently have to clarify the operating status of the premises, how they obtained the two plasma exchange machines that were confiscated, their medical specialties and other issues concerning the operation of the clinic and the services they provided to clients.
The photo the doctor took with her cellphone
The photograph of Giorgos Mazonakis recovered from the doctor’s cellphone is at the center of the investigation and has become one of its key pieces of evidence.
Authorities believe that analyzing the photograph, together with the other digital findings, may help clarify critical aspects of the case and the circumstances in which the singer died.
So far, investigators have recovered a deleted appointment for Giorgos Mazonakis from the clinic’s computer. The photograph recovered from the accused doctor’s cellphone is also considered significant evidence.
According to MEGA, at 2:45 p.m., the doctor took a photograph of the singer and sent it to her husband. In the image, the singer appears unconscious on the medical bed.
At 2:56 p.m., the singer was disconnected from the machine.
At 7:30 p.m., the doctor deleted the photograph of Mazonakis from her cellphone, and at 7:45 p.m., she and her husband were taken to the Kypseli Police Station.
Investigators believe that analyzing the photograph could provide pieces of the puzzle that lead them to the circumstances surrounding the singer’s death. Specifically, they hope it will answer the following questions: What exact time was the photograph taken? Was the singer still alive when the photograph was taken? Why was it taken?
At the same time, police are analyzing the photograph to determine whether, from a particular angle, the equipment visible beside the singer might show any indications of vital functions that could reveal his condition at that specific moment.
Authorities are also awaiting the results of the lifting of telecommunications privacy restrictions to determine whether the doctor sent the photograph to anyone.
Public vigil continues until noon – Funeral at 1 p.m.
The public vigil for Giorgos Mazonakis has been underway since Sunday afternoon at the Holy Church of the Holy Trinity in Nikaia, Piraeus. Large crowds have been arriving to pay their respects in person.
The church and parish was one Giorgos Mazonakis particularly loved, and his family chose it as the place where the public would have the opportunity to say a final goodbye.
His funeral will be held at 1 p.m. at the Third Cemetery of Athens, in the presence of close family members.
