Italian man to face magistrate for double murder in Aigio as forensic net tightens

The crime scene

Police arrived at the house in Longos Aigialeias on the morning of Tuesday 9 June after the suspect alerted an acquaintance and together they found the bodies. The front and back doors showed no signs of forced entry, and most rooms appeared tidy. Only the bedroom where the victims lay was in disarray, with a broken shelf, a laptop, a key and a cartridge thrown across the floor.

The 54‑year‑old woman, Maria, was dead face‑down just behind the half‑open door, her nightgown unbuttoned. Officers counted more than 20 stab wounds to her abdomen and chest, plus defensive injuries on her hand and neck. In the same room, on the bed, lay her 26‑year‑old son Olympios, naked under a colourful duvet, with a close‑range Flobert wound on his right temple and four additional knife wounds to the thorax.

“The 65‑year‑old was absolutely calm, expressionless and unemotional the whole time.”

The suspect’s version

Marco – a 65‑year‑old Italian national who had been in a long‑term relationship with Maria – has consistently denied any involvement. He maintains he was sleeping in another room and heard nothing. On Friday he appeared before the investigating magistrate in Aigio and obtained a further 24‑hour extension; his formal plea hearing is scheduled for Saturday at 10 a.m.

According to his legal team, he claims Maria had herself damaged her mobile phone days earlier and that he helped police locate its remains. The defence has asked for full access to all digital devices seized from the house, as well as the medical files of all three individuals.

“He is deeply shaken and grief‑stricken. He says he had nothing to do with what happened.”

Evidence and contradictions

Investigators have challenged Marco’s account on several fronts. Forensic tests on the knife found beneath Maria’s body yielded no fingerprints – unusual for a kitchen knife used in a household – and officers noted that cleaning materials such as sponges, a bucket or a mop were absent from the house, suggesting a deliberate clean‑up.

Detectives estimate the attack occurred around 3 a.m. on 9 June, leaving a window of six to seven hours before the alarm was raised. Security camera footage and mobile data logs are being analysed, and police have stated that no third party was involved. Marco’s earlier suggestion that mother and son may have killed each other has been dismissed by medical examiners.

A community in mourning

At 11.30 a.m. on Saturday, while Marco is still inside the courthouse, locals will gather at the Church of Saint Demetrios in Longos for the joint funeral of Maria and Olympios. The service will take place a few kilometres from the Aigio judicial complex, marking an emotional endpoint for a village still trying to absorb the scale of the violence.

“We will ask for the medical files of all three to be opened. The investigation must be complete – we cannot proceed piece by piece.”