Ex-wife of UC Berkeley professor shot in Greece arrested on suspicion of plotting his killing
Przemysław Jeziorski, 43, was gunned down on July 4 in Agia Paraskevi, a suburb of Athens, as he was walking to the home of his ex wife, Nadia Michelidaki, to see his two children.
According to a story in To Vima, a Greek newspaper, authorities arrested Michelidaki and accused her of convincing her current partner to kill Jeziorski.
Police also arrested her companion – who has not been identified – and three other men as accomplices.
The three men, two Albanians and a Bulgarian man, were accused of transporting the shooter to the crime scene and giving him the firearm used in the crime.
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UC Berkeley professor murdered in Greece: Ex-wife's attorney says she is innocent
The ex-wife of Przemyslaw Jeziorski, a marketing professor from the University of California, Berkeley, says she was not involved in his murder, her attorney told ABC News. Jeziorski, a 43-year-old associate marketing professor at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, was allegedly shot and killed in Athens on July 4 near the home where his two children -- Zoe and Angelo -- live, his younger brother said in a statement. The children, who are 10-year-old twins, had been living with Jeziorski's ex-wife in Athens since 2020, according to court documents. In a press release shared on July 17, police said an attacker "approached the victim and shot him in the chest and back, resulting in his fatal injury, and then fled." Five people have been arrested in connection with the killing, including the professor's ex-wife, her boyfriend and three other men who were allegedly accomplices in the murder, according to Greek police sources. All five suspects appeared in court in Athens on Monday, with the judge ordering they remain in custody until the investigation, the ex-wife's attorney, Alexandros Pasiatas, told ABC News. But, Pasiatas said he is fighting for the ex-wife's release from prison as he says she is innocent. Four out of the five suspects -- everyone except the ex-wife of the professor -- pleaded guilty to the murder, Pasiatas said. The professor's ex-wife, Konstantina Michelidaki -- who goes by Nadia Michelidaki -- says she was not involved in the murder of Jeziorski, according to Pasiatas, despite friends of the professor previously telling ABC News their relationship "was not cordial" and court records indicating Jeziorski tried to file a restraining order against his ex-wife months before his death because he was "fearful" for his life. Pasiatas denied any allegations of emotional, physical or financial abuse from Michelidaki or her partner. "Nadia is a very nice lady. She's a very good mom. But the most important thing you can say about Nadia is that she doesn't want violence at all," Pasiatas told ABC News. "You have to be only a dreamer in order to say that Nadia has organized that." Pasiatas confirmed that Michelidaki's boyfriend, who is only referred to as "Christos" in court documents, was the person who shot Jeziorski, he said. Pasiatas believes Christos killed the professor because the children were "anxious about going with their father" and he decided to "take the law into his hands" -- even though Jeziorski and Michelidaki were privately involved in an ongoing custody and division of property battle. The attorney claims that the custody battle and division of property were complete. But Jeziorski's brother told ABC News a court settlement was reached that would allow the professor to take the children "for the entire month of July and for Christmas," but his ex-wife "refused to hand them over and hadn't prepared their passports." Christos allegedly was "very traumatized from his own family" and the "only thing he wanted was a nice and peaceful family," Pasiatas said. But Christos saw the "children felt unhappy," Pasiatas said. Pasiatas said Christos was "very good with the children" but did have "psychological issues." He added that Michelidaki, Christos and the children were "uncomfortable" with Jeziorski's girlfriend, who Pasiatas said was an escort who "used to take drugs" and would send messages to the mother saying "your children are idiots." Pasiatas said he believes Jeziorski was still dating this woman up until his death. The attorney also accused the professor of "alcohol problems" and that the children -- who speak to Michelidaki over the phone while she is in prison -- "don't ask about their father, they ask about Christos." He added that the children are aware that their father has died, but not the "way" of his death. As to the accusations against Jeziorski's behavior, his brother, Lukasz Jeziorkis, told ABC News in a statement that Michelidaki is a "liar and manipulator" and that UC Berkeley -- where his brother worked -- would not "tolerate a person with such accusations for even a single day." Lukasz Jeziorski also criticized Michelidaki for staying with Christos and having him spend time with the children. "Why did she stay with and allow such a 'man' as this murderer to be around the children? What kind of mother behaves like that?" Lukasz Jeziorski said in a statement. Lukasz Jeziorski said his brother's children -- who are both U.S. and Polish citizens -- are "under care in accordance with Greek child custody procedures," he said in a statement last week.
