In a total prison sentence of 32 monthswith a 3-year suspension, was convicted by the Mixed Court of Appeal of Thessaloniki, a 67-year-old man who shot and killed his 32-year-old son with a hunting rifle, following a family incident, in April 2020, in the family home where they lived, in Pylaia.

Examining the case in the second degree, the court found him guilty of manslaughter, which he committed in the heat of a mental impulse, illegal carrying of weapons and use of weapons (as in the first instance), while recognizing a total of three mitigating factors – previous legal life, sincere remorse and subsequent good behavior.

At first instance he was sentenced to 6 years in prison (with the recognition of a single mitigating factor) but he was released pending the trial at the Court of Appeal (he was remanded in custody after his confession to the investigator).

According to the indictment, the 32-year-old victim suffered from psychiatric problems and was previously hospitalized in a facility, while using substances.

Relatives testified that they lived in fear because of the frequent tensions it created. On the disputed day of the murder, as described in the indictment, the deceased first hit his mother, who in fear called her 67-year-old husband on her mobile phone, asking him to return from the estate where he was.

When the defendant arrived in the yard of the house, a verbal confrontation ensued with his son, as a result of which he also received blows and fell to the ground. A neighbor who had rushed to the scene tried to defuse the situation, but the 67-year-old entered the house, grabbing his rifle, with which he shot his son a total of six times from a short distance. One of the bullets hit the 32-year-old in the back of his head, fatally injuring him.

In his apologythe 67-year-old appeared remorseful for his act, while referring to the chronic problems his son was facing and the “hustles” he was causing. “I was afraid and that’s why I was sleeping in a room next to the house”, he mentioned and describing what preceded the murder episode he said that his wife had called him saying: “come, she will kill me”.

Citing memory lapses, he apologized for not realizing he had killed his son, stressing that if he could go back in time he would not have acted that way.