Papadatos murder in Domokos: Witnesses place Rizai at the scene
Video and laboratory findings link escaped inmate Alket Rizai to the execution of Papadatos at Domokos prison on 15 February.
Cold-blooded execution in Domokos: New evidence implicates Rizai
Evidence photographs from the crime scene, movement maps from closed-circuit television and inmate testimonies placing escaped inmate Alket Rizai next to the dead man — these findings are being brought to light by television station SKAI, as reported by kathimerini.gr.
Antonis Papadatos was found dead on 15 February 2026 inside the main guardhouse of Domokos prison, with three bullets in his head. Police and the investigating magistrate characterised the case as a contract killing and the matter remains pending.
The videos show the path to death
In footage from the closed-circuit system, Papadatos can be seen shortly before the murder: he is in the common area of the fourth wing and is conversing unsuspectingly with fellow inmates. A Bulgarian lifer then appears and asks him to follow. Papadatos complies.
Perpetrator and victim traverse the corridors leading to the main guardhouse. At the same time, the same footage shows Alket Rizai heading towards the same location, accompanied by fellow inmates acting as bodyguards. In the administrative area, according to the report, Papadatos, the Bulgarian and the chief guard are already there when Rizai arrives — and the video has recorded the chief guard exchanging embraces with him.
Papadatos is led to the old guardhouse, the only space in the prison without security cameras. There he receives first one bullet in the back of the head and two more in the face.
Prison employee: "I saw Rizai leaving"
A prison employee testified before the investigating magistrates: "At some point I heard gunshots coming from the old guardhouse area. I saw Alket Rizai leaving first."
The lawyer for the Papadatos family, Gerasimula Zapanti, noted that within seven minutes an inmate was moved from his wing to the administrative building and was executed. "Laboratory findings have emerged that place him at the crime scene," she stated, referring to Rizai. She added that contradictions in the chief guard's statement directly led to the issuance of an arrest warrant against him.
The Bulgarian accepted responsibility, Rizai denies
The Bulgarian inmate ultimately accepted responsibility for the murder, claiming that Papadatos had hidden a revolver in his shorts with the intention of killing the chief guard, and that he intervened to prevent it. During the struggle, he maintains, the weapon went off. After the execution, the Bulgarian threw the weapon on the floor and surrendered.
Rizai had denied any involvement: "I am clean and I am not afraid of anything. I was not inside the old guardhouse at the time the act was committed. I had no reason to get involved in such a matter, not for all the money in the world." However, according to the report, laboratory analysis detected traces of blood on his shoes and gunpowder residue on his clothing.
The chief guard claimed in his testimony that he tried to cover himself during the incident, did not see exactly what happened, and that Rizai had left the area a few minutes before the gunshots. His lawyer, Dimitris Gkavelas, stated: "A chief guard was found in the wrong place, at the wrong time. He found himself facing a situation that he apparently could not prevent." He added that his client denies Rizai's presence at the scene, and that is all he can convey.
Rizai missing — remains a witness, not a defendant
The 47-year-old Alket Rizai escaped from Domokos prison last Monday and remains missing. Despite the laboratory findings and testimonies placing him at the scene, no charges have been filed against him and formally he continues to have the status of a witness in the case. The bail application submitted in August by the remanded chief guard was rejected.
Source: Google News GR — Crime (el)