A 43-year-old Greek man, his German partner and an Afghan man have been remanded in custody in Athens over an infant's death in Kypseli.
The three suspects were ordered held in prison following their initial court statements. The judicial decision covers the first phase of the case involving alleged violations of drug laws and failure to report the discovery of a corpse, after the baby's body was found inside a suitcase at a residence in Kypseli, a residential neighborhood in central Athens.
Speaking from a police holding cell to the Greek television channel Mega, the 43-year-old suspect presented his version of events surrounding the tragedy. He claimed that the infant had been suffering from an intestinal condition and a hernia, insisting that the child died of natural causes in their hands.
When questioned about the child's exact date of birth, the man initially stated that he could not remember with certainty, suggesting the baby was born in 2021. After the interviewing journalist pointed out that his wife testified to police that the child was born in 2022, he advised checking family photographs posted on his Facebook account and insisted the birth occurred in 2021.
Father Describes Days Leading to Infant's Death
The father stated that the child was doing well eight months after birth but required continuous abdominal massages due to bowel complications. He claimed that doctors had instructed the parents to massage the child's stomach regularly because the baby had a hernia and was unable to eat, defecate or use the bathroom.
Describing the day the nine-month-old infant died, the suspect said the family was sitting at the kitchen table eating a meal while the baby was in a crib in the kitchen. He stated that they had taken the infant to a doctor earlier that day because of a fever, and the physician diagnosed a viral infection alongside the hernia before administering a fever suppository.
He recounted that his wife noticed the child was unwell and described the baby as being in a state of daze. He claimed that he heard a popping sound, saw the child's abdomen swell like a balloon, and attempted to massage the stomach before the infant emitted a white discharge, collapsed and died.
Forensic Findings Contradict Freezer Account
The 43-year-old father acknowledged that the family chose to freeze the dead infant and transported the body across three or four different residences inside a suitcase. He claimed they concealed the death because the children were unregistered at birth, fearing that social welfare services would intervene, remove their remaining children and destroy their family.
Addressing reports of multiple knife wounds on the corpse, the suspect denied stabbing the child. He asserted that he used a knife only to strike ice that had formed around the body inside the freezer to free it, claiming he did not realize he had hit the child because a frozen body does not bleed.
Forensic evidence reported by Greek police journalist Vassilis Lambropoulos directly refutes the suspect's claims. An initial medical examiner report identified multiple knife wounds on the infant's back, detailing 18 total injuries consisting of three antemortem wounds inflicted before death and 15 postmortem marks.
Subsequent forensic evidence cited by Lambropoulos revealed that the child suffered 20 stab wounds, five of which occurred prior to death. The coroner observed that the baby was covered in blood inside the suitcase, confirming that the child bled out completely before dying rather than being struck after death while frozen.
Prior Interventions by Social Services
The investigation has also uncovered previous contacts between the family and child protection authorities. In 2025, the family's surviving children were admitted to Paidon Children's Hospital in Athens on three separate occasions due to parental neglect.
Paidon Children's Hospital is the main public pediatric hospital in Greece. The 43-year-old father admitted that he walked into the hospital and removed the children without authorization, stating that nobody stopped him and that he took them home because he loved them.
He explained that the parents never obtained legal birth documentation for their children out of fear that state authorities would take them away. Investigators have collected DNA samples from the suspects to verify whether they are the biological parents of the three surviving children, who have again been placed under care at Paidon Children's Hospital.
Parental Contradictions and Past Pimping Allegations
Authorities plan to conduct specialized interviews with all three surviving children in the presence of a child psychologist to determine when and where the homicide occurred. Security Police officers noted that both parents provided contradictory statements during preliminary questioning and refused to explain how the child died.
According to details published by the Greek news site iEidiseis, the 38-year-old German mother claimed she was away from the house with one of the minor children at the time of death and returned to find the infant dead. However, the 43-year-old father also claimed to police that he was away from home during the incident, contradicting his television interview where he stated they were eating together at the table.
Reporting by iEidiseis indicates that the couple has been together since 2000. During a previous police investigation into pimping allegations against the 43-year-old man, a 42-year-old complainant informed officers that whenever prostitution appointments were conducted at the family home, the German wife would take the children and leave.
Police handling the murder inquiry have not ruled out the possibility that the 38-year-old mother is living under fear and coercion. Both parents are scheduled to deliver formal depositions before an investigating magistrate as forensic examinations continue.
