Australian coroner calls on Greece to reopen 'gay' murder case

A few hours after the mutilated bodies of George Karalis and George Loizos were found on a boat off the coast of Athens in 1998, the Greek authorities declared that the cousins were gay lovers who died in a murder-suicide after a row.

A few hours after the mutilated bodies of George Karalis and George Loizos were found on a boat off the coast of Athens in 1998, the Greek authorities declared that the cousins were gay lovers who died in a murder-suicide after a row.

Their Greek-Australian family never accepted that bizarre conclusion, and yesterday they were finally vindicated when a Melbourne coroner ruled that Mr Karalis had, like Mr Loizos, been murdered by a third party.

As the Australian government prepared to lobby Greece to reinvestigate the killings, speculation mounted about motives for the alleged cover-up. The family claimed the Greek authorities had wanted to avoid the bad publicity - particularly as Athens had just been named host city of the 2004 Olympics.

The family's barrister, Michael Tovey QC, also alleged that Greek officials might have conspired with the murderers, who he said were possibly drug traffickers or tobacco smugglers. The waters of the Gulf of Marathon, where Mr Karalis, 28, and Mr Loizos, 32, were killed, are known to be frequented by organised criminal gangs.

Certainly, the investigation was incompetent. A forensic pathologist told the coroner, Iain West, that the position of the bodies -- which were found tied to the boat - ruled out a murder-suicide. Mr Loizos was floating face down in the water by the outboard motor, while Mr Karalis was hanging from a bloodstained rope tied to the stern.

Evidence was destroyed when the boat was towed to shore with the men's bodies still dangling from it, according to Stephen Curnow, a private investigator hired by the family. No fingerprints were taken and the men's clothes were discarded without being analysed. The Greeks also claimed the 16ft boat would have capsized with more than two people aboard, when it easily held six.

Mr Karalis and Mr Loizos grew up in Melbourne and, according to relatives, were like brothers. Mr Loizos moved to Greece when he was 12, and later married. In June 1998, Mr Karalis visited them and his girlfriend was to join them later. The two men went on a day's boating trip only for a fisherman to find their boat the next morning, drifting 60 miles north-east of Athens.

Within hours of the bodies being examined by the local coroner, Soultana Marianou, officials announced that Mr Karalis had murdered his cousin and then committed suicide. The media reported that the killings followed a lovers' tiff - despite no evidence suggesting that the men were gay, let alone in a relationship.

George Milonas, their cousin, said outside the inquest: "Within six hours of this happening, the investigation was closed. No third party involved, murder-suicide, forget it." Mr Tovey said Ms Marianou had shown a "chilling indifference to the proper investigative processes and indifference to the feelings of the relatives of the deceased".

It was only after years of campaigning that the family succeeded in having an inquest held in Australia. The coroner, Mr West, ruled yesterday that Mr Karalis had been strangled. He gave no opinion on Mr Loizos's death because he was not resident in Australia at the time. Mr West also declined to comment on the Greek investigation, saying it was outside his jurisdiction.

Mr Karalis's mother, Helen, called on the Australian government to put pressure on Greece while it was the focus of attention in the run-up to the Olympics. The Australian government said it would instruct its ambassador in Athens to raise the case with the Greek authorities, bringing the coroner's verdict to their attention.

Mr Curnow said he had been unable to determine whether the Greek authorities had deliberately botched the investigation, "or whether their actions were simply the result of gross negligence or incompetence".