Greek man convicted of murder of Jean Hanlon in Crete following 17-year battle by her sons for justice
A Greek man has been convicted of the murder of Jean Hanlon in Crete, 17 years after her body was found. Her three sons from Scotland fought for years against the initial accidental death verdict.
Greek man convicted of murder of Jean Hanlon in Crete following 17-year battle for justice
A man from Greece has been found guilty of the murder of Jean Hanlon, a 53-year-old Scottish woman who had settled in Crete, following seventeen years of relentless effort by her three sons to uncover the truth.
Hanlon disappeared in 2009 in Heraklion. Authorities found her body in the water and initially ruled her death an accident. Her sons — brothers Michael, Robert and David Porter — refused to accept this verdict. They identified injuries on her body, including a blow to the back of her head, which they considered incompatible with an accident.
Following pressure from the brothers, a second autopsy was conducted within two years. The findings revealed injuries consistent with a struggle. The case was opened and closed four times. Two men were wrongly accused, while the investigation repeatedly reached dead ends.
In 2023 the brothers hired private investigators Haris Veramon and Niko Arkouli. The investigators studied Hanlon's diary, where she had written about a man with whom she had a brief relationship in early 2009 and from whom she had separated. According to their report, the suspect behaved as a "rejected pursuer" who did not accept the separation and wrongly believed she was in a relationship with another man.
The trial began seventeen years after her death. The three brothers testified. Crucial was the testimony of the suspect's sister, who stated that her brother had been diagnosed with mental health disorders and became aggressive when he did not take his medication. The prosecution argued that he was not taking his medication during his contact with Hanlon.
Ultimately the court found the Greek suspect guilty of murder. The verdict came after nearly two decades of the family's struggle for justice.
Source: BBC News