Who took out the “contract” for Greek journalist – Murder motive under scrutiny

More and more information is coming to light about the murder of Giorgos Karaivaz, with the authorities’ investigations focusing on the persons that ordered the “hit” on the journalist and the physical perpetrators of the murder.

On Wednesday, the two brothers, 40 and 48 years old, who are facing felony charges for second-degree murder, will have to make depositions. According to Greek police, they seem to have had a supporting role in the cold-blood execution of Giorgos Karaivaz, while three more people beingincluded in the case file. In addition, the person who ordered the murder is also known.

All of them were operating under the orders of the person who seems to have ordered the journalist killed, so far it is not clear who paid for the execution of Giorgos Karaivaz.

Looking for motives

Given that the motive for the murder has not been identified, the authorities are investigating the case as an “ordered murder”.

The Authorities do not rule out the possibility that there is more than one person who ordered the execution. One person gave the order to execute the death contract, however, it is not excluded that there are other persons who triggered  developments so that the suspect of the conspiracy made the decision to execute the journalist.

According to the lawyer of the Karaivaz family, the journalist was not looking at people who were known by the Greek Mafia, but was looking to find out which people who were government officials and in public positions, provided protection to the Greek Mafia.

“Two people have been arrested so far and the case file includes three more people. Investigations continue, because the goal is to reach the person who gave the order. I believe the police know who the person who gave the order is, it’s just a matter of proving it. I believe the secret is hidden in what Giorgos said and wrote shortly before his murder. The phrase he used to say to everyone was “now that I am going to testify, some people will see what will happen to them”, opined the president of the union of police officers of SE Attica, Giorgos Kalliakmanis.

Is the main suspect in prison?

What  the motive was for the murder that shocked Greece may not be stated in the case file, however it is not excluded that this is the product of revenge of a person who is already in prison.

Eight years ago, in October 2015, a criminal well-knownto police, who was murdered in the southern suburbs of Athens in December 2020, sent a message to a 53-year-old who is imprisoned by the guards and is known by the moniker Thamnakias (bushy), that Giorgos Karaivaz had provided the convist’s mobile phone number, so that the law enforcement officers could monitor it. No one can be sure of this, but it cannot be ruled out that this was also the motive for the murder.

“Yes, he did it (Karaivaz), it’s 100% certain and tomorrow they will also provide me with the phone number he gave [to police] to have privacy lifted [by prosecuting authorities]. It’s your number. He went and said some things,” says the SMS that “nailed” Karaivaz.

Criminals’ conversations under scrutiny – Lifting the ‘evil eye’

According to information, all five persons, the two arrested and the three suspects, mentioned in the case file, were suspected that the authorities were following. Not necessarily for the murder of Giorgos Karaivaz, but also for other cases. Thus, they used various coding applications for their conversations. The police are trying to decode them, having even asked for help from Europol.

Those arrested were in possession of “clean” mobile phones and two numbers under the ownership of someone in Bangladesh. These mobile phones were bought a few days before the crime, specifically on April 2, from a store in Panormou.

The Homicide Division is scrutinizing the relations of a 49-year-old manager of the cell phone store, from which the perpetrators’ business phones were allegedly purchased. As it was established, he had previously communicated with two of the persons included in the case file. When asked about his relationship with the 54-year-old van driver, he reportedly told officers: “we had formal relations (with the 54-year-old). I used to send him messages to rid  him of the ‘evil eye’ (xematiasma).”

It is noted that the manager of the store seems to have sent a text message to a person included in the case file just 50 minutes after the murder of Karaivaz.

[The evil eye is called the “mati” in Greek (a “xe” prefix is like “de-” or “un-”; xematiasma means roughly “an undoing of the eye”). There are several ways to perform a xematiasma, and some claim it can be done from afar.]