Skaftourou murder: “Come down, we will kill Giannis”

His murder Giannis Skaftourou on Easter Monday at his holiday home in Skourta, Viotia was the last link in the long chain of murders associated with the “big clearing at night” and counts more than 20 death contracts in the last five years. He fell dead in a storm of fire at 12 noon, while he was in the yard of the house with his daughters, grandchildren and other people close to him, but not with the members of the personal guard that he allegedly had, fearing a possible attack on him.

The 55-year-old also had a long history of illegality, with his CV including blackmail, bombings, kidnapping and murder charges, while he was considered an accomplice of the also murdered Vassilis Stefanakos and the imprisoned Panagiotis Vlastos. Together they are said to have formed one of the most powerful groups of the night, with their cycle of activities expanding according to information, which, however, were not confirmed by the filing of lawsuits by the Authorities, in matters of fuel smuggling, cigarettes, etc.

Uncle Joe, as was the pseudonym of Giannis Skaftouros, received more than fifteen bullets from Kalashnikovs, most of them to the chest and abdomen, as well as three shots to the head with a pistol. Those who consistently follow the developments in the world of night and illegality stand by the fact that the perpetrators acted at the moment when his bodyguards were away from home, as due to the day and on the order of Skaftouros they would get a job after 4 p.m. “The castles are falling from inside,” they comment, implying that one or more people in his inner circle carried the information that the 55-year-old would be defenseless on Monday morning. It will not be the first time that something similar happens in the night war, since the information states that even after the murder of Vassilis Stefanakos, in 2018 in Haidari, a person from his close environment played a key role. Police sources, however, leave open the possibility that the perpetrators did not have privileged information, but watched the movements of Skaftouros and acted on Monday morning, finding that members of his guard were absent.

The assassination plan was carried out by at least four people riding two large motorcycles. The three of them jumped the outer wall and after approaching the people in the garden, they opened fire, targeting the 55-year-old. Relatives who spoke publicly described that the executors they shouted at them “fall down” before moving towards Skaftouros calling him by his name, “John, John”, apparently to make sure that he was the person they had been ordered to kill. Eyewitness accounts suggest the perpetrators were foreigners, possibly Albanians.

And if their plan to reach and neutralize their target was successful, no one can claim the same for their escape, despite the fact that they managed to avoid capture. This is because they made a series of operational mistakes that may lead the prosecuting authorities to their tracks. One of the machines, which had been stolen in 2019 from Aspropyrgos, was damaged and they were forced to abandon it. Then they stopped a passing farmer, who is in fact related to Skaftouros, and with the threat of Kalashnikovs they forced him to come down from his farm. However, due to mishandling, they fell into a ditch and finally escaped on foot from the spot.

Both the engine and the car were transported to the forensic laboratories in search of fingerprints and DNA of the perpetrators, while in the wider area, searches were carried out by aerial means of the Hellenic Police. and EKAM teams to locate them, which, however, did not bear fruit. The information that they were received from a car driven by their accomplices has not been fully confirmed.

The stolen Triumph

Officials note that the perpetrators did not steal a motorcycle a few hours before the murder – as is the case in other cases in the past – but chose to use a motorcycle they had in their possession since 2019. “It is possible,” they say. the Police to be led in their tracks by investigating the theft of Triumph three years ago (s.s. the brand of the motorcycle) “.

The police and those who closely monitor what is happening in the world of illegality do not consider it possible that the motive for the murder is hidden in activities carried out by Σκαφτούρος after his release from prison in 2018, but not in the enemies he had developed in prison. For example, this one with Albanian prisoners, who shortly before his release had tried to kill him, injuring his leg. On the contrary, they attribute the contract to him in the ongoing battle for supremacy in the night space and more specifically in the attempt of one of the remaining teams to eliminate the competition, eliminating the opponents and in a way that the message of power is understandable.

Moreover, in the world of illegality, information had been circulated according to which Skaftouros was behind certain death contracts to the detriment of his opponents. Regardless of whether the specific information is correct or not, they are said to have acted as accelerators of developments.

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