Life in prison for Greek mother who murdered her nine-year-old quadriplegic daughter after posing for last photo posing as a loving mother

A woman who murdered her nine-year-old quadriplegic daughter was today sentenced to life in prison in Greece, found guilty of premeditated manslaughter for the death of young Georgina.

Roula Pispirigou, 35, poisoned her daughter with ketamine in 2022 after she spent months lying in a hospital bed after suffering seizures that led to her paralysis.

The court found that her mother had also tried to kill her during at least one of her previous stays at Karamandaneio Hospital in her hometown of Patra.

First attempt failed, leaving daughter paralyzed, according to local media reported.

Pispirigou had posed for a final photo with Georgina, presenting herself as a loving parent and smiling at her young daughter before administering the fatal dose of the anesthetic in January 2022.

In detention for two years, Pispirigou is also awaiting trial over the alleged murders of his daughters Malena, aged three and a half when she died in 2019, and Iris, aged just six months when she died in 2021.

Georgina had tragically suffered seizures in 2021, leaving her quadriplegic and unable to move her limbs.

She had spent eight months in hospital before her death on January 29, 2022.

Nurses confirmed that her mother had been left alone with her before her sudden death.

Court documents, local media reported, said the autopsy revealed Georgina died from a fatal dose of ketamine less than 20 minutes after it was administered.

The documents reportedly claimed that medical staff last visited the nine-year-old girl about an hour before she died.

Pispirigou was arrested after being detained for questioning when a test of her daughter’s muscle tissue revealed the presence of an anesthetic drug, which had not been administered by doctors.

On March 30, 2022, she was charged with the murder of her nine-year-old daughter.

The story sparked national outrage and saw crowds of protesters come out to express their feelings.

Shortly after his arrest, riot police were deployed outside the court after a crowd gathered to shout insults at him.

After his indictment, protesters also gathered outside his home in the port city of Patras, 200 km west of Athens, where police again intervened to maintain order.

The death threats made against Pispirigou have again prompted the government to appeal for calm ahead of today’s verdict.

Pispirigou is also suspected of murdering two other girls, Malena and Iris.

Malena was three and a half years old when she died in 2019, and Iris was only six months old when she died in 2021.

Malena had been declared suffering from acute liver failure. Iris’ cause of death was initially recorded as heart failure.

However, tests carried out after Georgina’s death showed that they had been asphyxiated.

Grigoris Leon, a forensic pathologist and president of the Medico-Legal Union of Greece, told local news channel Syndeseis that the exhumation of his other children in 2022 confirmed that “criminal acts were the cause of death.” .

Greek media have dubbed Pispirigou, a trained nurse, a “modern-day Medea,” in reference to a character in Greek mythology who murders her sons after their father leaves her for another woman.

Pispirigou, from western Greece, steadfastly pleaded his innocence throughout the trial which began in January last year.

Pispirigou’s mother, speaking to local media STAR after her indictment, said she did not believe her daughter was capable of killing the three children.

She described a close mother-daughter relationship and said Pispirigou was extremely upset by Georgina’s illness and death.

The court ultimately determined that Pispirigou had committed both the offenses of premeditated manslaughter and attempted premeditated manslaughter.