The Italian man remains the primary suspect in the murder of a mother and son in Longos, near Aigio. In the coming days, the case, which has taken on the qualities of a thriller, may either see the initial suspicions confirmed or be completely overturned. According to newer information, toxicology tests on the 65-year-old suspect showed he had taken sleeping pills, and traces of cannabis were also detected.

“He Was Trying to Get Her to See a Psychiatrist”

The closest friend of the murdered 26-year-old, Olympios, a woman who knew him and spent time with him for years, has now described what she says was happening in the family in the days before the crime. According to her, the young man was extremely anxious about his mother’s condition in the days leading up to the killing.

She told LiveNews that on May 28, Olympios asked to meet her because he was in a bad state. He told her his mother had called him that morning and wasn’t doing well, telling him she couldn’t take it anymore and that “they” had been pushing her to kill him. Even the Italian suspect had reportedly told Olympios he couldn’t take it anymore with the mother and was thinking of leaving Longos. According to the friend, Olympios said his mother might even have hit the Italian suspect.

Her account aligns with what the Italian defendant himself has said from the start: that his partner killed her son because of psychiatric problems she had been struggling with, and then took her own life.

According to the friend, Olympios had said he couldn’t focus on his own life because he was constantly preoccupied with worry over his mother, and that he had gone to Longos actively seeking help for her, looking into both addiction treatment and psychiatric care.

Is the version put forward by the Italian suspect gaining traction? Could the 54-year-old woman really have killed her son and then taken her own life? From the outset, signs of a struggle and injuries found on her body by the coroner ruled out that scenario.

“Olympios Had Told Me His Mother Was Drinking a Bit More”

The suspect continues to maintain his account, and to date no genetic material or fingerprints belonging to him have been found on any of the evidence collected and sent for testing by authorities.

The friend said the last time she and Olympios spoke was June 7, when he told her things were difficult and there had been another incident. She assumed he had been drinking again and would be opening the doors that night to let people in.

She said Olympios had told her his mother had been drinking somewhat more before her heart problem emerged. He made excuses for her, attributing it to financial stress and to feeling worn down by life in Longos. There had also been a period when some debts surfaced from his paternal grandfather; because Olympios had signed certain paperwork, as he told her, those debts ended up passing to him, adding further stress on his mother.

The friend said the 26-year-old had been visibly distressed in recent months, and she also described his relationship with the Italian defendant as a good one. Olympios grew up in Longos alongside his mother and her partner, Marco, whom his mother had met 16 years earlier. Olympios and Marco got along well, with no conflict between them, though Olympios never saw him as a father figure and always said his own father had died. The friend said she had met Marco herself, having stayed with them at the house, and found him to be a calm, decent person.

The Heart Condition

In the coming period, authorities are expected to obtain information from a robotic vacuum cleaner that was in the home; its memory is believed to have logged the last time it was activated. The Italian suspect has said from the start that he woke up at 11:00 a.m. and notified a friend, who arrived before police. He has since given an additional supplementary statement.

Police ruled out the involvement of a third party from the outset; security footage from the night of the killing showed no one besides the residents entering the house.

The friend said the mother had a serious heart issue in early 2024. She had generally neglected her health, drinking and smoking, but after the diagnosis she tried to cut back, and the friend believes she had largely succeeded.