ATHENS, Greece (BN24) — Greek police have arrested five people in connection with the fatal shooting of a University of California, Berkeley marketing professor in Athens, including the victim’s ex-wife and her boyfriend, who has confessed to carrying out the killing, authorities said Thursday.
Przemyslaw Jeziorski, 43, an associate professor at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, was gunned down on July 4 in an upscale Athenian neighborhood near the home of his 10-year-old twins, Zoe and Angelo. According to Greek officials, a masked gunman approached Jeziorski and fired multiple shots to his chest and back before fleeing the scene.
Police say Jeziorski’s ex-wife orchestrated the attack. Her boyfriend and three alleged accomplices have also been taken into custody. All five suspects appeared in court in Athens on Thursday and are scheduled for another hearing Monday.
Greek authorities say the suspects attempted to conceal their identities. Investigators traced the vehicle used before the shooting and said the gunman had handed over his phone and car keys to one of the accomplices to avoid detection. Two other suspects allegedly left the area without the shooter following the killing.
Jeziorski, a Polish-American scholar known to colleagues and students as “PJ,” was reportedly in Greece to attend a court hearing concerning a custody and property dispute with his former spouse. He had planned to take his children to his hometown of Gdynia, Poland, and later to Disneyland Paris, according to his brother, Lukasz Jeziorski.
“Our family is heartbroken,” Lukasz said in a statement. “But we are grateful to Greek police and security professionals who have identified and captured those accountable. We want justice to be fully served.”
The murder has shocked both the academic community and Jeziorski’s personal circle. His close friend, Chemtai Mungo, said the professor expected to spend a month with his children in Poland under a previous court agreement. But upon arriving in Greece, he was informed of a new legal dispute requiring his attendance in court.
“He was hopeful and excited to spend time with his kids,” Mungo told ABC News. “The relationship with his ex-wife was not cordial, and he didn’t anticipate the situation would turn deadly.”
Mungo said Jeziorski had stayed in frequent contact while in Athens and that the circumstances of the shooting—occurring in a well-regarded neighborhood—left no doubt the killing was deliberate. Police reportedly told the family the gunman fired five rounds into Jeziorski’s chest and neck.
The couple had divorced three years earlier, and the children, both U.S. and Polish citizens, are now under state care in accordance with Greek custody protocols, officials confirmed.
Jeziorski’s death marks a tragic end to what had initially been a routine international custody matter. Authorities have not publicly disclosed additional evidence but say further legal proceedings are underway as prosecutors prepare formal charges against the suspects.
