The Forensic Service of Patras has been suspended until further notice today in the shadow of the case and the confession of Eirini Mourtzoukou for the murder of four infants.

It will be recalled that reports had been prepared by the Patras Forensic Service for both the death of one of Roula Pispirigou’s children and the two infants that Irini Mourtzoukou confessed to murdering.

Reports say the decision of the Justice Minister, Giorgos Florides, was taken due to serious malfunctions found in this service: One forensic doctor has passed away, the former head has been put on leave, another has resigned, while the fourth is allegedly involved in the Irini Mourtzoukou case.

It is noted that until the reorganization and full staffing of the forensic department of Patras is completed, the cases arising in the area will be covered by the Corinthian Forensic Service.

The questions for the forensic doctors

Mourtzoukou’s confession has raised a series of questions about the possible responsibilities of medical examiners who failed to identify the real causes of death when they conducted the autopsies – autopsies on the bodies of the children.

None of the three forensic doctors who took charge of the cases and undertook to write the forensic reports on the unfortunate infants were able to detect the evidence of hypoxia found in numerous organs by the expert scientists of the four-member committee of the Hellenic Police. In fact, in three of the five children, the investigation of the causes was undertaken by the same forensic pathologist of Patras, attributing their death to pathological causes.

In particular:

– On February 4, 2021, Irini Mourtzoukou watched the six-month-old infant of her then girlfriend and best man, as the child’s mother had entrusted her with his care. At 5:00 in the morning, the child presents with bronchial congestion and dies. He was taken to the Karamandaneio hospital, and according to the report of the Patras coroner, the cause of death was listed as “diametric pneumonitis of childhood”. After the death of little Panagiotakis, in August 2024, the file on the death of the 6-month-old infant is reopened and then, after a thorough investigation, a series of errors and omissions come to light. Re-examination of the thymus gland shows hypoxia suggesting a suffocating mechanism of death.

– On June 19, 2022 Irini Mourtzoukou is found with her 19-month-old infant in their home in Patras. At 01:00 in the morning and while she is sleeping with her infant, she notices difficulty in breathing and because his condition is getting worse, she calls the ambulance. The infant is taken to the Health Centre of Kato Achaia, where he is subsequently pronounced dead. The autopsy report was submitted to the Patras Public Prosecutor’s Office and the cause of death was stated as being due to interstitial pneumonitis of childhood. Again, the report on the cause of death is drawn up by the same Patras coroner. A report, which is now openly disputed, since the experts of the National Police found signs of hypoxia, i.e. suffocating death, in the thymus gland, the brain, the lungs and the liver.

– On October 17, 2023, the two-month-old baby of Irene Mourtzoukou dies at the General Children’s Hospital of Athens “Agia Sophia”, where she was hospitalized. He had been transferred to this hospital from the Karamandaneio Hospital on September 18, 2023 and was hospitalized until his death. The preliminary investigation for the death of this infant was undertaken by the Police Department of Ampelokipi, from where the autopsy-necropsy was ordered to the Athens Forensic Service and which indicates as the cause of sudden death a pathological history of epilepsy. And in this case of death, 1.5 years later, another twist will come, as the pediatric neurologist appointed by the EL.AS concludes that the epileptic episodes, which the child presented at the Children’s Hospital, were not of epileptic etiology.