The murderer of the head of the family, Leonidas Hatzimichalis, is roaming free among the peaceful inhabitants of the island and spreading fear.
The unfortunate man was executed in cold blood with a double barrel, in a death cartridge that was set up for him, while he was in the driver’s seat in his tank truck, which was emptying sewage.
The appalling sight was witnessed by his son, who was looking for him and found him dead in the early hours of Friday, August 5 in a deserted location, on a mountain near Psili Ammos.
Despite being shot through the windshield as he sat, he found the strength to open the door, but just a few meters down, he breathed his last.
In a live connection via Skype from Samos, Michalis Svarnias, journalist of the website Samostimes.gr and Sami TV, conveyed the climate prevailing on the island.
He said that due to a lack of strength in the local police, the investigation of the case is delayed.
A relative of the victim who was found on the set of “Tunnel”, he preferred to speak with his back turned to the lens, out of fear.
“We don’t know if the killer is mentally disturbed and who the next victim will be. If the Samos police do not have time to deal with the case due to workload, let them ask for help from the headquarters in Athens”, she said indignantly.
“We may be sitting with the murderer…”
An acquaintance of the victim, who some refer to as a witness, spoke to a “Tunnel” reporter about the killer who is still at large. He himself was a professional driver during the disputed period in a tank belonging to his relatives.
“I had no involvement with sewage, I was involved in earthworks. We have heard that someone dumping their sewage in the area may have been disturbed, but I cannot know who. However, such crimes are not committed for this reason. We are afraid because we do not know what has happened and we may be sitting with the murderer. You’re keeping your clothes…”, said the witness.
They move the three children of the victim in “Tunnel” with their fierce “accusation” and with their indignation at the stagnation of the investigations.
“They say the way is opening, but nothing…”
His son, Leonidas Hatzimichalis, spoke indignantly to “Tunnel” about the stagnation of the investigations.
“I don’t have much patience. They want time and more time… The only thing the police tell me is that we are on a “very good path”. Before we were on a “good road”, now it has become a “very good road”. They don’t tell me anything, that’s the problem! I’m so upset, I’m concerned about the result we have to get to… The one who did such a thing and walks free is a coward,” said Stelios Hatzimichalis, visibly disturbed.
“We see them all as suspects…”
More than seven months have passed since the murder of the unlucky driver in Samos and his daughters, Angeliki and Petroula Hatzimichalis, talk about their hopes that with time start and fade for the case to be solved.
“There is nothing to confirm who the killer is. For the family it is like we are at the beginning. They are telling us what they have been saying since the beginning, that investigations are still underway, they are trying and waiting for more information from the headquarters in Athens. The case file has not yet been sent to the prosecutor’s office, as investigations are being carried out, as we are told, with the result that the murderer is walking free… And if he is on the island… In our eyes, everyone is now a suspect,” they said.
The victim’s daughters are afraid that the investigation of the case will freeze.
“We are on a small island, if something was to be found, it would have been found. As time passes, data is also lost. Now we don’t have much hope. I wish there was someone who knows something and would come out and talk, help us as a family, we don’t know what else to do,” they concluded emotionally.
“If I don’t see his killer in prison, I won’t rest…”
The daughters of the deceased professional driver, what they are asking is to get answers to their questions and to arrest his killer.
“There are many open possibilities. He might have seen something that he didn’t think was important or even that some trafficking was taking place, as there is a secluded place where one can easily escape… However, the police rule this out as a possibility. If they exclude this too, then we are not just at zero, we are dying at zero. There is nothing else. We exclude one, we exclude the other, which is why I say we now see all people as suspects. If they tell me tomorrow that they found him, I won’t believe it. Until he gets to court and is tried, I won’t believe that our father’s killer has been caught…”
The victim, shortly before he was murdered, was receiving threats and intended to hire a chiller.
“He didn’t even have time to put on a heater to see who was bullying him, as he had told us. What we are asking is that the case not be filed, because then it will be very difficult to open it again. Make renewed efforts to find the murderer and put him in prison. The point is that years don’t pass.”
Angeliki and Petroula Hatzimichalis appeal through the “Tunnel” to anyone who knows something, to speak to put an end to their agony.
“Whoever knows something, help us. No crime should go unpunished. We want to catch the killer and find out why…”
Read details about the case here.
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