A man, 54, accused of the murder of a mother and daughter, who were found dead in a sealed apartment in Athens, was taken into custody after he testified in his defense on Friday morning.
The man has been charged with serial intentional homicide and illegal possession of arms after he was found to have a kitchen knife.
The macabre case came to light on Sunday night when relatives of the two victims notified police that they had gone missing for months. Upon arriving at the scene in the district of Zografou in Athens, the suspect attempted to mislead police, claiming the two women lived in a different apartment.
Officers subsequently returned with a prosecutor’s order and discovered the two bodies. Police proceeded to arrest the man who said the victims died of natural causes.
Autopsies performed on the bodies of two women have failed to establish a cause of death, authorities said.
Officials said no findings of note were recovered from the remains, and that the women are estimated to have died approximately two months ago. Examiners found no evidence of stabbing, strangulation or gunshot wounds, and no pathological condition was identified.
Toxicology results are pending and are expected to shed light on the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the mother and daughter.
