On Friday, February 5 Angeliki Nikolouli revealed creepy evidence that make up a macabre puzzle for an unsolved murder which for five years haunting the society of Agrinio.
Threats, extortion, the curious role of a woman – “spider” shares which liquidated shortly before the murder, turning research into new directions.
The Chronicle
Holy Thursday April 21, 2011 around eleven in the morning, dense black smoke choked Roupakia area, near the city. A car was engulfed in flames in a field, but the fire department was not called in time …
When the fire was extinguished, the horror was revealed.
Nikos Mentzos 46 year old, teacher and father of one child, was charred, inside his car.
Lately the 46 year old teacher felt depressed and had confided to friends that he was been blackmailing and feared. He maintained an affair with a woman who according to witnesses wanted him to separate with his wife .
The fatal morning started early from his housε to do some farming chores. Around nine, ηε passed with his car outside the patisserie where his wife was working and talked for a while. He said he would go to cut grass in his field in Roupakia. As later discovered the family by removing his mobile phone secrecy around eleven he spoke with his broker because he wanted instantly realize a respectable amount of money. Then he exchanged text messages with the woman who maintained an extramarital affair. A phone call followed to his wife in which reportedly ” everything will be destroy “.
Theeffort of the family
The victim’s family began a race to prove that he was murdered. According to the first forensic report his death occurred by the complete carbonization of the victim. Relatives insisted to unbury the body. A year later their initial fears were confirmed. After a second forensic examination was found that the victim was strapped in the car seat with an iron cable!
Also from the vial with the blood of the victim which was buried together, it was found that the deceased was carbon monoxide organism, which means that Nikos Mentzos was alive when the fire started. The experts report tell that the fire started from the bottom of the car from the inside out.
The Prosecutor considering the testimony and the findings of the technical consultants appointed by the family of the victim indicted for manslaughter with intent clarifying that it is not an accident. The case is at the magistrate office of Agrinio.
What the witness saw at the crime scene
The important testimony of the man who accidentally was found near the crime scene at the time the victim was burning in the car, did not interest the authorities, thus losing precious time. “Tunnel” found the witness who described at the broadcast camera what he saw. HE was about fifty meters from the burning car. He saw around it a woman and a man. There seemed they did not want to seek for help. For nearly a quarter they were moving around the car observing it burning. Sometime later the witness heard the siren of the fire. Then he saw the woman crying, desperate and asked for help. In the near point was stopped a red car and the witness remembers the number of the license plate. Authorities did not ever bother to ask him to testify of what he saw. Days later he learned that another witness had seen the fire about an hour before he reached the spot.
“He was annoyed by a woman, feared for his life …”
At witness and relative of the victim patisserie was working in the afternoons the 46 year old teacher to supplement his income. That morning the victim had passed in front of the store and spoke briefly with his wife, who also worked at the same place. In a while she asked the owner of the pastry to leave, saying that she would go home because her child was sick. About twenty minutes later her sister and wife of the owner of the pastry, warned him to rush into the field because Nikos car was burning. As he told to “Tunnel” the witness once he got there he saw Nikos wife crying and shouting upset. He asked her if she called the police, she responded negatively and immediately called the Authorities. The witness did not understand that Nikos was burning in the car until the fire was extinguished. From the first moment he believed that it was a criminal act. He described the victim as a good, peaceableness man and hard worker. As he told to “Tunnel” he had received a call from an unknown woman who talked bad about Nikos. He had said then that it was a relationship that had ended and he had begged not to say anything to anyone.
A man who also works at the pastry talked to “Tunnel”. Nikos had asked him to buy under his name in a mobile phone number and give it to him so he could be able to communicate with the woman who maintained an extramarital affair. But at the evenings he was telling him that he was afraid and asked him to leave together from the shop because he was been threatened.
” He was feared, someone was blackmailing him”
Colleague of the victim spoke to “Tunnel”. They knew each other many years and had developed friendly relations. At school he was likable and had no problems with his other colleagues or students. He was a man who liked nature and was involved in the care of the school garden. As she said on the show recently he seemed depressed, he wasnt easily talking. During breaks he spoke on his cell phone and looked like something was troubling him strongly. Sometime he confided to the witness that there was another woman in his life except his wife who was pushing him. They agreed then to leave their personal issues outside school as not to affect their work.
As told to the reporter of the “Tunnel”, someone had gone a day to school to meet him. Nikos came out of the building to meet this person and when he turned was agitated and flushed. Then he asked to be transferred from this school, but he did not insist on this request. Witness said that he wanted to return to normal life and that he could not stand to fear. He had confided to her that he feared without being clear for who and why. He said that someone was blackmailing him and was feared that he would cause problems in the school of his child. When journalist asked her whether the woman was related was asking him to separate from his wife, the witness replied that Nikos wanted to stay with his family.
“They tied and burned the teacher “
The victim’s sister Sophia Mentzou spoke to “Tunnel” for the fateful day when her brother found burnt in his car. That morning Nikos as his wife told her, first passed by the patisserie where she worked. Then he headed to the field in Roupakia area to mow the grass. But none of the surrounding area heard noise from mower. As she told to “Tunnel” at this point someone cannot easily make eye contact and also if someone wants to use a mobile phone, he should be moved to the river because there is no reception. “His wife told us that she came up here and searched but did not find him. She tried to call my mother and texted Nick. After she told us that she went on the road to Agrinio, called at her house nor there found him, until at some point she saw dense smoke, ” she said.
Siblings of the victim alerted at around one in the afternoon for the tragic event. They reached the point when the firemen were trying to extricate the charred body of the burned car. Sofia Mentzou did not dare to approach, the spectacle had took her breath away. Neither her brother who was with her , found the courage. He told her not to go around the body and remember him as they saw him for the last time. But they could not imagine that their Nikos was tied up with wire rope around the seat, unable to cope the tragic end that some prepared for him. It was a pure criminal act, something which was confirmed later from experts appointed by the family.
“We want to learn the truth for the vindication of Nikos ‘
Tragic figures the parents of the teacher, still cannot believe the evil that found their family. Vassilis Mentzos lost his consciousness when he learned the tragic death of his beloved son. “We were told that he was tied into the car and the Police Chief talked about suicide. How is that possible; We want to find the truth. We got ourselves to the State Laboratory to prove that it is a crime, ” he said with despair. The words of his mother Smyrnia Mentzou causing thrilled: “With Nick I sleep, I wake up with Nick, all day he is in front of me. He did not deserve such luck. I want the truth. To vindicated my child. “
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