A serious event of international proportions has shocked Athens and the academic community of the University of California at Berkeley.
Marketing professor Przemyslaw Jeziorski , 43, was killed on the morning of July 4 in a quiet neighborhood of the Greek capital while on his way to pick up his young twins from his ex-wife's house.
The murder occurred on the eve of a legal showdown over child custody and has sparked widespread outrage over the brutal manner and motives behind it.
According to Greek authorities, Jeziorski was shot several times at close range by a masked person as passersby tried to help him, but he died at the scene.
Investigations quickly uncovered a suspected well-planned scheme, centered around his ex-wife's new partner, who later confessed to police that he had shot the professor " to protect his partner and children " from the possibility that Jeziorski would eventually take them to the US.
In his testimony, the alleged perpetrator said he feared that Jeziorski would gain full custody of the children and that this would "destroy" his girlfriend.
"I did it for her and for our children, so that we could have a peaceful life," he declared, adding that he had planned everything with the help of three other people, two Albanians and a Bulgarian, who helped him track down and attack the professor.
All have been arrested and face serious charges of complicity in premeditated murder.
Meanwhile, contradictory statements from accomplices have further complicated the investigation. One of them stated that the entire scheme was organized by the victim's ex-wife, who did not want Jeziorski to have any more contact with the children.
She currently faces charges as a moral accomplice, but her lawyer denies any involvement in the murder plot.
The event has sparked widespread reactions in the US and Poland. The University of California, Berkeley, described Jeziorsk as a dedicated professor and distinguished scholar, who had taught over 1,500 students during his 13 years at the institution and had made outstanding contributions to the field of quantitative marketing and digital economics.
His family has expressed their heartbreak and is requesting that his body be returned to Poland to give him a final farewell.
The twin children, who are American and Polish citizens, are currently in the temporary custody of Greek authorities and, according to the family's lawyers, the victim's mother and brother will seek full custody of them in Poland.