Report shows death by suffocation for Patra siblings, sources say

A much-waited coroners’ review into the deaths of two children of the Daskalaki-Pispirigou family in Patra, western Greece, allegedly shows that they both died of asphyxiation instead of natural causes, sources said.

The report by Nikos Karakoukis and Nikos Kalogrias into the mysterious deaths of 3.5-year-old Malena and 6-month-old Iris was ordered as part of an investigation into the death of the family’s third and older daughter, 9-year-old Georgina, in late January.

Malena died from liver failure in 2019 and Iris in 2021 from a suspected heart defect.

The girls’ mother, Roula Pispirigou, was accused of killing Georgina after an anesthetic drug was found in tissue samples of her daughter who died following a lengthy stay in hospital. She was arrested in April and has been detained pending trial. She has denied any wrongdoing, and her lawyer have pointed to the possibility of medical error. 

Meanwhile, Manos Daskalakis, Pirpirigou’s estranged husband, testified to the police on Saturday and homicide police officers are in Patra to take testimonies from Pispirigou’s parents and other witnesses who live in town.

The final report of the homicide division may lead to new prosecutions.