Latest news with #PrzemyslawJeziorski
NDTV
14 hours ago
- NDTV
UC Berkeley Professor's Ex-Wife Convinced Lover To Kill Him: Report
A man detained in connection with the murder of a UC Berkeley Professor in Greece has confessed to carrying out the cold-blooded killing for his lover, the former wife of Przemyslaw Jeziorski. "I did it all for (her) and our children so that we could have a normal life without problems," the man told Greek authorities. The suspect, identified as the ex wife's boyfriend, was subsequently arrested for intentional killing and unlawfully possessing and using a weapon, CNN reported. Przemyslaw Jeziorski, 43, a professor of business and marketing at the University of California, Berkeley, was shot dead on July 4 in Agia Paraskevi, a suburb of Athens, Greece. He was shot multiple times in the neck and chest at close range in broad daylight. Police said Jeziorski, who was in Athens for a custody hearing involving his 10 year old twins, died on the spot. The children were under the custody of his ex-wife. The ex wife's boyfriend admitted to the crime and told police he was carrying out her orders. "I decided to put an end to this torture we were going through once and for all a month and a half ago," the suspect told police, adding that it was a "good opportunity" because Jeziorski was in Athens. The suspect was driven by the three other conspirators to the spot where he waited for the professor on the day of the murder, reports said. "I went up to him and shot him a couple of times, but I can't recall how many times," the man said. The suspect claimed he purchased a firearm over a month ago and asked a Bulgarian friend to help him in "finding Przemek and scaring him so that he would not take our children away from us." Authorities have apprehended five individuals associated with the offence: the ex wife, her boyfriend, two Albanian nationals, a Bulgarian, and one minor. Although the boyfriend has admitted to killing Jeziorski and accused the ex-wife of complicity, she continues to deny any involvement. Court proceedings suggested escalating hostilities stemming from a contentious international custody case. According to court documents obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle, Jeziorski had filed a restraining order against his ex-wife in the months preceding the murder. Jeziorski claimed in the filing that he was physically abused twice by the woman's boyfriend while he was picking up or dropping off the children.
New York Post
a day ago
- New York Post
Boyfriend of slain UC Berkeley professor's ex-wife allegedly confesses to cold-blooded killing: ‘Did it all for her'
The man accused of murdering a 'beloved' University of Berkeley professor in Greece allegedly told police he 'did it all' for the victim's ex-wife — who he was dating, according to reports. 'I did it all for [her] and our children so that we could have a normal life without problems,' the still unidentified suspect told Greek police after his arrest, according to an interrogation transcript obtained by CNN. The suspect is accused of gunning down 43-year-old Przemyslaw Jeziorski — the ex-husband of his girlfriend — as he was arriving at the woman's Athens home on July 4 to pick up their two kids amidst an ongoing custody battle. 3 Przemyslaw Jeziorski, 43, was gunned down outside his ex-wife's home in Athens on July 4. Jeziorski — a Berkeley Haas School of Business professor — was shot five times in the chest and neck at point blank range by a masked gunman, and was declared dead at the scene. His ex-wife's boyfriend was arrested 12 days later, and reportedly told police he decided to kill the professor more than a month before. 'A month and a half ago I made the decision to end this torment we were experiencing once and for all,' he told police in the leaked interview transcript. 'We were afraid that he would end up taking the kids completely. That would completely finish off [my girlfriend], who was overly fond of them,' he continued. 'This summer Przemek wanted to take the children and take them to America. But [my girlfriend] did not agree and so she went back to court with Przemek.' 3 Suspects in the murder are moved by police. The identity of the suspected killer has not been released. REUTERS Jeziorski had just scored a victory in the custody fight, with a judge ruling only a day before the murder that he could take his kids for a month The suspect decided it was a 'good opportunity' to kill Jeziorski when he came by his ex's house to pick up the youngsters, he allegedly told police. 'I approached him and shot him a few times, but I don't remember how many times,' the suspect allegedly admitted. He even bought the pistol a month earlier, and recruited three friends to help him with the crime. But those alleged accomplices — who were also arrested — said they had no idea the suspect was plotting murder, and that they'd only been told they were going to help scare and intimidate Jeziorski. The ex-wife was arrested over the killing, while the shooting suspect's attorney told CNN she knew nothing of the plan — but that they were both afraid Jeziorski's supposed alcoholism was going to put the kids in danger if he won custody. 'My client had come to me in the past to seek advice. He had said his partner's ex-husband had serious alcoholism issues and that he and the mother were worried about allowing access to the kids. He wanted to see if there was something he could legally do about limiting access,' the lawyer said. Jeziorski's friends and family, however, have refuted any claims that he struggled with alcohol, according to CNN. 3 Jeziorski taught at Berkeley's Haas School of Business for eight years. He and his ex-wife were divorced in 2021. He and his wife married in 2014, but filed for divorce in 2021. She is a Greek national and returned home in 2020. But he taught school in California, and the custody battle over their two children was rife with complications over what country the kids would be raised in. The ex has also denied any involvement in the killing. But Jeziorski had reportedly been fearful of her and her new boyfriend for months — even requesting a restraining order in May with complaints that he was scared for his life, according to ABC News. 'I am fearful of what she is doing now and what she will attempt to do next as we move forward in this divorce,' he said in the request, which was ultimately denied in a California court. Jeziorski spent eight years teaching at Berkeley, where colleagues recalled him as an 'outstanding scholar. 'Our family is heartbroken, and we are doing everything we can to ensure that justice is served,' his brother, Lukasz Jeziorsk, wrote on the crowdfunding website WhyDonate. The kids — twins — are currently under the care of Greek child services, he explained, but he said he would seek to adopt and raise them. 'Przemek was a loving father to two young children and a beloved professor at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley,' the brother added. 'He was a leading scholar in marketing science, industrial organization and data analytics. He loved teaching and sharing his passion for the intricacies of marketing analytics and marketing science with his students.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
UC Berkeley Professor's Ex-Wife Convinced Lover to Kill Him: Lover's Alleged Confession
NEED TO KNOW Przemyslaw Jeziorski was slain in broad daylight in Greece earlier this month His ex-wife is among five arrested in connection with the killing The beloved father was reportedly locked in a custody dispute with his ex-wife over their two childrenA man arrested in connection with the killing of a beloved California professor allegedly told Greek police he was acting on the orders of his girlfriend, who is the professor's ex-wife. Przemyslaw Jeziorski, 43, a business and marketing professor at University of California, Berkeley, was gunned down in Agia Paraskevi, a suburb of the Greek capital of Athens, on July 4, police previously said. Jeziorski was in the city for a custody hearing and to visit his children, who were in custody of his ex-wife at the time, ABC 7 and Greek outlet Ta Nea reported. Days later, Greek authorities arrested the woman, her boyfriend and three others in connection with the crime, ABC News and local outlets To Vima and ERT (Greek: EPT) reported. Per Greek provisions, the names of the defendants have not been publicly released by authorities. The woman's boyfriend allegedly confessed to the crime, telling police he was acting on her orders, per officials' accounts cited by CNN, Dimokratia and ERT. The man allegedly said he carried out the killing because they were worried Jeziorski would take the children away, CNN reported. "I made the decision to end this torment we were experiencing once and for all,' he allegedly said. On the day of the killing, he was driven by the three other accomplices to the location where he lay in wait for Jeziorski, per the alleged confession. 'I approached him and shot him a few times, but I don't remember how many times,' the man allegedly said. One of the five people arrested is a minor, per CNN. All but the professor's ex-wife have allegedly confessed to their link to crime, while she maintains her innocence, the outlet reported. In the months leading up to the slaying, Jeziorski had reportedly filed a restraining order against his ex-wife, according to court documents obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle, ABC News and SF Gate. In the filing, Jeziorski alleged that the woman's boyfriend had physically assaulted him on two occasions when dropping off or picking up the children, per all three outlets. Jeziorski alleged in the document that his ex-wife would specifically have her boyfriend pick up or drop off the children following Jeziorski's visitation in a bid to intimidate him, the Chronicle is being remembered by his loved ones — both in the United States and his native Poland for his dedication to his work and his children. Zsolt Katona, a fellow professor and colleague at UC Berkeley, told PEOPLE in a statement following the murder: 'If there is any consolation in these moments, it's knowing the lasting impact that he left on so many people's lives." His family has set up an online fundraiser to assist with costs related to transporting his body to Poland. Read the original article on People
CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
UC Berkeley professor killed in Athens: Suspect claims he ‘did it all for' victim's ex-wife, leaked police confession reveals
Greek police lead the ex-wife of murdered UC Berkeley professor Przemyslaw Jeziorski to court in Athens on July 17, alongside her new boyfriend and three others alleged to be involved in the Polish educator's shooting on July 4. CNN has added blur to this image. (CNN Greece via CNN Newsource) On the morning of July 4, an American marketing professor was walking towards his ex-wife's house in Athens to pick up their two young children. It should have been an unremarkable, if strained visit – the couple had apparently been disputing the terms of custody arrangements. But Przemyslaw Jeziorski never made it to the front door. In broad daylight, in this typically quiet, suburban neighbourhood of Greece's capital, he was shot multiple times at close range, according to police. Jeziorski died where he fell, police said, his body riddled with gunshot wounds seen in grim photographs taken in the immediate aftermath. As eyewitnesses rushed to his aid, the masked gunman fled. The alleged perpetrator, arrested 12 days later: His ex-wife's new partner. The motive, he told police: to prevent Jeziorski from taking away her children. 'I did it all for (her) and our children so that we could have a normal life without problems,' he said, according to a transcript of a statement he made to police in the aftermath of his arrest for premeditated murder as well as illegal possession and use of a weapon. One of the most remarkable aspects of the case is that the statements made to police by the alleged perpetrators have been widely leaked to Greek media, including a CNN affiliate, CNN Greece. The statements, verified as authentic by a senior police source speaking to CNN, offer an insight into how the alleged murder plot was put together, why it was undertaken, and provide clues as to who may have known what, and when. But there are key questions unresolved, too – not least the role, if any, of Jeziorski's ex-wife. According to Greek police, she is facing moral accomplice charges, which she denies, according to her lawyer, who spoke to CNN. Like all the suspects in this case, her identity is known to CNN but cannot be published due to Greek legal restrictions. The alleged perpetrator's confession, and other conflicting accounts from three alleged accomplices that were also leaked to the press, sets up what is likely to be a lengthy and high-profile trial. Meanwhile, the killing and the aftermath have shocked the friends and family of the victim, who say Jeziorski was a kind and introverted academic who loved his children. Jeziorski, 43, who went by the nickname Przemek or 'PJ,' was an economist and tenured professor of marketing at the University of California Berkeley's Haas School of Business. He was born in Poland and moved to the United States in 2004 to study economics and math at the University of Arizona, and he went on to obtain his PhD from Stanford. 'He was one of the sharpest people I've ever met,' said Robert Kowalski, the victim's friend from Stanford. 'He was a great guy, a genius in many regards.' UC Berkeley said in a statement that Jeziorski 'had a passion for teaching' and during his 13 years at the California university, he taught data analytics skills to more than 1,500 graduate and PhD students. His research work centered on emerging markets, which took him around the world for field research, and Berkeley described him as 'a leading expert in quantitative marketing, industrial organization, and the economics of digital markets.' The dean of UC Berkeley's business school, Jenny Chatman, said she was 'heartbroken' by the death of Jeziorski, who she described as a 'beloved member of our marketing faculty.' Custody battle Jeziorski met his ex-wife – a Greek national – in San Francisco in 2013, and they got married the following year, according to Kowalski. The couple's twins were born shortly after. In 2015, the couple co-founded a start-up called Keybee, a short-term rental property management platform. It's unclear what led to their relationship falling apart, but Kowalski told CNN the couple broke up around 2020 after moving to Greece during the Covid pandemic. Their children are dual US and Polish citizens, according to a statement from the victim's brother. The children had applied for Greek citizenship and were awaiting a decision on that, according to the ex-wife's lawyer. Jeziorski filed for divorce in June 2021, according to California court records. It appears to be one element in a years-long custody battle for the children, who ultimately lived with their mother in Greece, with a provision that their father, Jeziorski, could take the children for one month every summer. According to Kowalski, Jeziorski asked during the custody battle that his children attend an American school in Greece, so that they could be able to attend high school or college in the US one day. But his ex-wife was afraid of losing the kids much sooner, according to the statement to police from the principal suspect, her boyfriend. 'We were afraid that he (Jeziorski) would end up taking the kids completely. That would completely finish off (my girlfriend), who was overly fond of them. This summer Przemek wanted to take the children and take them to America. But (my girlfriend) did not agree and so she went back to court with Przemek,' the suspect said, according to the testimony transcript. On July 3, a custody judgement ruled that Jeziorski was indeed allowed to take the children for a month. Conflicting confessions 'A month and a half ago I made the decision to end this torment we were experiencing once and for all,' the suspect told police, adding that it was a 'good opportunity' given that Jeziorski was in Athens to attend the custody hearing. The statement details how the suspect says he bought a pistol more than a month ago and asked a friend, who is from Bulgaria, to help him 'find Przemek and scare him so that he wouldn't take our children away from us.' He said it all began in Nafplio, a coastal city about two hours from Athens, 'so that it would appear that I was there' and his cell phone would 'leave traces.' The suspect said that that he, his friend and two others – a man and a teenager from Albania – he paid drove to Athens and waited on the same street as the ex-wife's house, where the suspect said he knew Jeziorski was coming that afternoon to pick up the kids. 'I approached him and shot him a few times, but I don't remember how many times,' he said. According to the statement, the men had rented a gray Porsche Cayenne as a getaway car, but the murder suspect told police that his accomplices left him at the scene after they saw him shoot the victim. Police said Jeziorski died at the scene, where seven bullet casings were found after a masked gunman shot him in the neck and chest. The three unnamed men who allegedly helped, two Albanian nationals and a Bulgarian national, are facing accomplice charges, police announced Thursday. The suspected accomplices – one of whom is a minor – have confessed to their peripheral involvement in the killing, a Greek police source told CNN on Thursday. CNN has been unable to reach attorneys for those men. 'My client has confessed his actions but as you can see from the simplicity of some of the things that took place this was not an organized plan. His accomplices only knew about a plan to scare him (the victim) so he would stay away from the children,' the main suspect's lawyer, Ermis Papoutsis, told CNN. '(The ex-wife), his partner, knew nothing about any of this.' 'My client had come to me in the past to seek advice. He had said his partner's ex-husband had serious alcoholism issues and that he and the mother were worried about allowing access to the kids. He wanted to see if there was something he could legally do about limiting access,' the lawyer added. 'Now he is completely devastated after what happened. We will ask for a psychiatric examination because he has had some issues in the past.' Jeziorski's friends have denied the allegations that he abused alcohol. On Friday, CNN Greece obtained the police testimony of the alleged accomplice from Bulgaria, which contradicts the account of the alleged gunman. In this account, the alleged accomplice claims the victim's ex-wife had 'organized the whole thing.' He described his friend, the perpetrator, obtaining a gun and then asking 'me to find some people to take him to Athens the next day to scare and threaten the Pole so that he would 'back down' on custody of the children.' 'In fact, from what he told me, (the ex-wife) made him do it because she didn't want to give the children to the Pole,' the accomplice said in the testimony,' adding that the perpetrator offered him thousands of euros after he 'did something we hadn't agreed on.' As for the ex-wife – beyond the statement of her lawyer, denying all knowledge, there is no further information about her testimony. 'We continue to maintain her innocence. Based on the case file and what we will present both in our written submission and during the oral proceedings in the main inquiry, we will highlight the key points that prove she had absolutely no involvement,' the ex-wife's lawyer, Alexandros Pasiatas, said outside the court Monday. 'She is innocent, she declares her innocence, just as she did at the start.' For reasons that are unclear, nothing from her statements to police have made their way to the Greek media. These inconsistencies – and other unanswered questions – will all be dealt with at the trial. 'Our family is heartbroken' Meanwhile, the victim's family are dealing with the aftermath of an unimaginable tragedy. The victim's brother said in a statement that 'our family is heartbroken,' but grateful to Greek police and security professionals who made the arrests. 'Przemek's ten-year-old children, who are US and Polish citizens, are now under care in accordance with Greek child custody procedures,' the victim's brother Łukasz Jeziorski said in a statement. 'Our primary concern is their safety and wellbeing, and helping them reconnect with their family to minimize the trauma they have already endured.' Jeziorski's family started an online fundraiser to repatriate his remains to his native Poland and pay for legal representation in Greece. A US State Department spokesperson told CNN the agency is providing consular assistance to the family. On Monday, the five suspects were appearing in person in court for their plea, according to Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, the lawyer representing the victim's family. The court will determine whether the suspects will be remanded in custody pending the trial. A trial date will be set at a later stage, Dimitrakopoulos told CNN. 'The victim's mother and brother will take sole custody of the children,' Dimitrakopoulos told Greek media on Friday. The lawyer said that 'we've talked to the prosecutor for minors so that the victim's mom and brother can get full custody of the kids and live with them in Poland, where they are now.' 'They have the opportunity to raise them in a loving environment, in a completely protective environment,' Dimitrakopoulos said, adding that 'if the mother is acquitted, because we respect the presumption of innocence, then she has the right to request sole custody of her children.' CNN's Amy Croffey and Chris Dos Santos contributed to this report. By Lauren Kent and Elinda Labropoulou, CNN
Straits Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Straits Times
Ex-wife, four men appear in Greek court over killing of UC Berkeley professor in Greece
Suspects arrested over the killing of Polish UC Berkeley professor Przemyslaw Jeziorski, who was shot dead in an Athens suburb, arrive at the courthouse in a police vehicle in Athens, Greece, July 21, 2025. Reuters/Louiza Vradi ATHENS - Five people suspected of involvement in the killing of a University of California at Berkeley professor in Athens earlier in July appeared in a Greek court on Monday to respond to charges over the slaying, lawyers said. The five included the ex-wife of the academic, a 43-year-old Polish national. According to a confidential police document seen by Reuters, the professor was shot in the chest and the back on July 4 in Athens' northeastern suburb of Agia Paraskevi. Police found six bullet shells at the crime scene. Some of the suspects escaped in a luxury car, according to video footage examined by the police as part of an investigation that led to the issuance of arrest warrants. The professor's Greek ex-wife, who has denied any wrongdoing, her Greek partner, and three other people - one Bulgarian and two Albanian nationals - were arrested last week. "She is innocent," said the ex-wife's lawyer, Alexandros Pasiatas, expressing certainty that the evidence to emerge from the main investigation will prove that she was not involved. Greek authorities have not released the names of the individuals alleged to be involved in the incident and the charges have not been officially disclosed. The woman's partner has confessed to shooting him, according to police officials. She is accused of moral complicity and the rest of the detainees are accused of assisting the perpetrator, one of the officials said. The weapon used in the killing has not been found. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore 2 workers stranded on gondola dangling outside Raffles City Tower rescued by SCDF Business Why Singapore and its businesses stand to lose with US tariffs on the region Asia Japan PM Ishiba vows to take responsibility for election loss, to stay in office to deal with US tariff talks Business $1.1 billion allocated to three fund managers to boost Singapore stock market: MAS Singapore Medallions with Singapore Botanic Gardens' iconic landmarks launched to mark milestone-filled year Singapore Proof & Company Spirits closes Singapore distribution business Singapore Jail, caning for man who held metal rod to cashier's neck in failed robbery attempt Singapore Fresh charge for woman who harassed nurse during pandemic, created ruckus at lion dance competition A prosecutor is expected to decide on Monday whether the suspects will be freed or remain in custody during the main investigation, and pending trial. REUTERS
