A 53-year-old man murdered his 44-year-old wife — a mother of three — in the village of Dialampi in Rhodope on Wednesday afternoon, August 26, just one day before she was scheduled to meet her lawyer to formally file for divorce. The woman, who had reportedly endured years of abusive behavior from her husband, had long tried to preserve her family despite repeated disruptions to their domestic stability caused by his conduct.
The victim worked in the tourism sector and, for nearly every summer, left her Rhodope village to take seasonal jobs at tourist businesses elsewhere in Greece. In 2022, while she was working in Crete, her husband traveled there and created a serious incident, prompting her to seek help from police. A criminal case for domestic violence was filed against him, and he was briefly detained. Though later released, sources indicate he had been receiving psychiatric treatment and struggled with mental health issues.
This summer, she had been employed on the island of Thasos and returned to Rhodope specifically to celebrate her 16-year-old daughter’s birthday. Tragically, on Wednesday afternoon, the man stabbed her in the neck inside their home. At the time, their teenage daughter was present indoors, and their 19-year-old son rushed the critically injured woman to the hospital — where she later died.
A close relative of the suspect spoke to newsit.gr, expressing shock: “To us, her husband’s brother is a good person. We never imagined something like this could happen. He informed me yesterday afternoon about what had occurred — I couldn’t believe it. We were all stunned. Every family has arguments — but that doesn’t mean this kind of thing should happen. Both were decent people. She had just come back from Thasos, where she worked. Doctors haven’t yet determined his condition. As for the children — we want to take care of them ourselves. How could we leave them alone?”
Evangelia Kola, the victim’s lawyer, confirmed to newsit.gr that the woman had planned to submit her divorce papers the following day — a meeting they had scheduled but never held. Kola revealed the suspect had a documented psychiatric history, including past hospitalizations and ongoing monthly psychiatric monitoring.
“The couple had faced serious difficulties for many years,” Kola said. “There were previous incidents of domestic violence — including another in Heraklion, Crete, in 2020, when they lived there permanently. This year, she was working seasonally elsewhere. She returned for her daughter’s birthday, hoping things might have improved — and decided to move forward with divorce. But after seeing how difficult the situation remained, she called me to arrange our meeting. We’d set it for tomorrow — but unfortunately, we never got the chance.”