Ippokrateio surgeon accused of murder remanded in custody

A 38-year-old surgeon charged with the murder of a 36-year-old Georgian woman was remanded in custody Wednesday after appearing before an investigating magistrate in Thessaloniki.

According to sources, the surgeon denied claims that he killed the mother of three on the premises of the northern port city’s Ippokrateio Hospital and disposed of her body in a forest in the area of Kassandra in Halkidiki. He allegedly told the magistrate that the 36-year-old was romantically interested in him and claimed to have been set up.

The pair are said to have become friends on Facebook in January and to have been exchanging messages since then. A medical examination indicated that the woman had been administered with an anesthetic prior to her death.