Released killer murders wife
A jealous Cretan former convict, who had been discharged after serving eight years for the murder of his mother-in-law, shot his estranged wife dead early yesterday before drinking a fatal dose of pesticide. The bodies of Haralambos Papadakis, 75, and his wife Papandini were discovered in the morning by their young granddaughter at their son’s farmhouse near Ierapetra in eastern Crete, where the 70-year-old woman had sought refuge to escape her husband’s jealous fits. Papadaki – whose nameday was yesterday – had been shot twice with a shotgun through the doorway, while her husband drank the poison and collapsed on the doorstep. The former convict had repeatedly threatened to kill her before committing suicide, but nobody took him seriously. In 1973, Papadakis killed his mother-in-law, who, he claimed, had been interfering in the couple’s affairs. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison, but won early release in 1981.
