Μake us preferred on Google The death of the 90 year old retired teacher in Mystras, whose son kept his body in a freezer for two and a half years in the basement of his abandoned hotel, appears to have resulted from natural, or “pathological,” causes.
According to information from Greek broadcaster ERT, this is the coroner’s first assessment that the elderly man died of natural causes, though the official forensic finding is still pending completion of toxicology and blood tests.
The 55 year old’s lawyer, Agis Kokkoros, said his client “is remorseful, and now realizes what he did, he loved his parents pathologically.” Throughout this period, the son had been collecting both his father’s pension and his mother’s, of which the 90 year old was the beneficiary while alive.
According to his lawyer, the 55 year old realized only shortly after his arrest and detention that when his father, who had serious health problems, died, he should have given him a proper burial rather than concealing his death.
The 55 year old faces charges of continuous fraud against the state, false testimony, and violation of weapons legislation, since an air pistol was found in his possession during the investigation.
How the Horror Came to Light
During the preliminary investigation, the 55 year old reportedly admitted that his 90 year old father died of natural causes, and that he decided to hide the body in the hotel’s commercial freezer in order to keep collecting his pension for two and a half years.
The case began to unravel after complaints from local residents, who told authorities they hadn’t seen the elderly man in at least four years. Suspicions deepened over the strict security measures the 55 year old had placed around the abandoned hotel, including security cameras, chains, signs, and traffic cones, explicitly barring anyone from approaching. According to notospress, he reportedly even denied entry to utility technicians and other service workers.
When police began searching for the 90 year old, his son claimed his father was in Athens with a home caregiver. But the 55 year old’s sister, located by authorities at her apartment in Kaisariani, denied this claim, testifying that the elderly man had lived permanently in Mystras since 2001.
This contradiction triggered the final phase of the investigation. Officers from Sparta’s Crime Detection Unit, along with a judicial officer and coroner, carried out a thorough search of the guesthouse and ultimately located the elderly man’s body in the basement.
Authorities are now carefully examining all evidence to determine exactly how long the body remained in the freezer, and to establish whether anyone else close to the accused knew about the situation.
