- Roula Pispirigou found to have killed her nine-year-old daughter with ketamine
- Mother, 35, under investigation over deaths of her two other girls in three years
- Pispirigou has steadfastly maintained her innocence over a lengthy trial
A woman who murdered her tetraplegic nine-year-old daughter was handed a life sentence in Greece today, found guilty of voluntary homicide with premeditation over the death of young Georgina.
Roula Pispirigou, 35, was found to have poisoned her daughter with ketamine in 2022 after months spent lying in a hospital bed after suffering seizures leading to her paralysis.
The court found that her mother had also tried to kill her on at least one of the previous stays at at Karamandaneio Hospital in her hometown of Patra.
The initial attempt failed, leaving her daughter paralysed, local media reported.
Pispirigou had posed for a final photo with Georgina, portraying herself as a loving parent and smiling at her young daughter before giving her the fatal dose of the anaesthetic in January 2022.
In detention for two years, Pispirigou is also awaiting judgement over the suspected murders of daughters Malena, three-and-a-half when she died in 2019, and Iris, aged just six months when she died in 2021.
Georgina had tragically suffered from seizures in 2021, leaving her tetraplegic and unable to move her limbs.
She had spent eight months in hospital before her death on January 29, 2022.
Nurses confirmed her mother had been left alone with her before her sudden passing.
Court documents, local outlets reported, said that the autopsy had revealed Georgina died from a lethal dose of ketamine less than 20 minutes after it was administered.
The documents reportedly claimed medical staff had last visited the nine-year-old around an hour before she died.
Pispirigou was arrested after being detained for questioning when a test of her daughter’s muscle tissue revealed the presence of the anesthetic drug, which had not been administered by doctors.
On March 30, 2022, she was charged with killing her nine-year-old daughter.
The story caused national outrage and saw crowds of protestors turn out to express their feelings.
Shortly after her arrest riot police were deployed outside the court after a crowd gathered to yell abuse at her.
After she was charged, protestors also gathered outside the her home in the port city of Patras, 125 miles (200km) west of Athens, where police again intervened to maintain order.
Death threats made against Pispirigou had again prompted the government to issue calls for calm ahead of today’s verdict.
Pispirigou is also suspected of killing two other daughters, Malena and Iris.
Malena was three-and-a-half when she died in 2019, and Iris was aged just six months when she died in 2021.
Malena had been declared as suffering from acute liver failure. The cause of death for Iris had initially been registered as heart failure.
However, tests following the death Georgina showed they had been asphyxiated.
Forensic Pathologist and President of the Forensics Union in Greece, Grigoris Leon, told local news station, Syndeseis, that the 2022 exhumation of her other children confirmed ‘criminal acts were the cause of death’.
Greek media have dubbed Pispirigou, a trained nurse, a ‘modern-day Medea’ after a figure in Greek mythology who murders her sons after their father leaves her for another woman.
Pispirigou, who is from western Greece, steadfastly pleaded her innocence throughout the trial which began in January last year.
Pispirigou’s mother, speaking to local outlet STAR after she was charged, said she did not believe her daughter capable of killing the three children.
She described a close mother-daughter relationship and said Pispirigou was extremely upset about Georgina’s illness and death.
The court ultimately determined Pispirigou committed both the offenses of premeditated manslaughter and attempted premeditated manslaughter.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
