Greek appeals court upholds life sentence for US biologist’s murderer

A mixed appeals court in Crete on Thursday upheld the guilty verdict and life sentence of a 33-year-old man accused of murdering 60-year-old American biologist Suzanne Eaton in Maleme in 2019.

A local man, Ioannis Paraskakis, was sentenced to life in prison in 2020 for the killing, an additional 13 years for rape and four months for weapons possession.

According to local media, the defendant’s lawyer asked the court to consider mitigating factors and reduce the sentence, but the jury refused. The verdict was unanimous.

Eaton’s son and sister attended the trial in person, state broadcaster ERT reported on Tuesday.

Eaton, a molecular biologist at the Max Planck Institute in Dresden, Germany, was found dead in a disused military bunker in July 2019, several days after he went missing during a run.

Paraskakis initially confessed to the murder, but later retracted his statement, saying that it was made under duress and that his presence in the area was purely coincidental.

Eaton had been to Crete for a scientific conference.