FOR months, tearful Irene Mourtzoukou begged the nation to believe she had nothing to do with a string of baby murders.
Then, the 25-year-old mum admitted to killing four babies – including her own children.
Irene Mourtzoukou, 25, denied her role in the deaths of four babies on Greek TV[/caption]
Mourtzoukou’s mum said live on air in November: ‘I believe Irene harmed her sister’[/caption]
Her long-awaited confession came in July, after authorities charged her with serial intentional homicide and the attempted suffocation of four babies, who died in western Greece.
She is now being held in Greece’s top-security prison.
Mourtzoukou told police she killed her first victim – her 18-month-old sister – in 2014, when she was just 14.
At the time, the child’s death was attributed to “respiratory complications” and went unquestioned.
But Mourtzoukou later told cops she killed the baby to get back at her mother after a fight.
She also admitted to her role in the 2021 death of her six-month-old godson while babysitting.
This was followed by the deaths of her own daughters – aged 19 days and just under two months – between 2022 and 2023, which she also admitted to.
Despite all four children dying under her care, initial autopsies ruled the deaths natural – with her newborn dying from “pneumonia” and her second baby from “epileptic seizures”.
But later examinations suggested asphyxiation.
Katerina, the mother of one of the babies that Mourtzoukou confessed to killing, described her as a “murderer with no presumption of innocence”.
Mourtzoukou has also been accused of attempting to suffocate her ex-partner using a pillow in 2021.
The woman managed to escape and later reported the incident.
Over the past year, Mourtzoukou became a familiar face on Greek talk shows, initially denying any role in the string of deaths.
But it was the death of her ex-girlfriend’s son in August last year that sparked a criminal probe – and led to her arrest over the deaths of five children.
A coroner had at the time ruled that the boy’s death may have been a criminal act, Proto Thema reports.
And in early September, a forensic committee concluded in a 100-page report that Panagiotis had died from “hypoxia” – a lack of oxygen – which is suggestive of “a criminal act”, the outlet states.
Mourtzoukou has consistently denied any involvement in her ex-girlfriend’s son’s death.
“That child was like my own,” she told police.
But she did confess to killing four babies, including her own children, police said.
Before the shocking confessions, Mourtzoukou reportedly faced other allegations.
The young mum is accused of attempting to kill another baby in 2016, when her family were hosting a woman and her child, Proto Thema reports.
The baby’s mother said she was hanging out clothes on the veranda while Mourtzoukou babysat.
After three to five minutes, the mum – who was still on the balcony – heard Mourtzoukou shouting that something had happened to the infant.
Finding her baby limp with black lips, the mum instantly suspected Mourtzoukou, fled the house and cut all contact with the family.
The baby was rushed to the Karamandaneio Children’s Hospital in Patras, where doctors noted it was drowsy, pale and unusually irritable.
A neurologist determined the baby experienced two episodes of loss of consciousness, which were not caused by epilepsy or any known disorder, according to Proto Thema.
The baby regained consciousness at some point during transport or hospitalisation, and remained in hospital for six days.
This allegation is not formally included in the charges brought against her.
Chilling TV appearances
In 2024, Mourtzoukou became a TV regular, fiercely denying blame.
She was often drawn into debates with journalists or forensic pathologists, who challenged her claims of innocence.
Well-known pathologist Dr. Grigoris Leon told Mega TV that the medical consensus pointed that the babies in question died of oxygen deprivation – caused by either smothering or asphyxiation.
“Her statements, combined with autopsy results, left little doubt,” Leon said. “This is an unprecedented case in modern Greek criminal history.”
Mourtzoukou fired back, saying she didn’t “believe” any of the pathologists.
“All they do is label things as murder, criminal activity or asphyxiation,” she told Open TV in December.
She added: “Who are Dr. Leon and Dr. Galenteris to come and tell me, ‘Your child died of asphyxiation?’”
At that point, an exasperated journalist quipped: “Well, then who’s supposed to do it [determine the cause of death]… the guy at the local corner shop?”
Adding to the Greek public’s horror – and fuelling even more fascination with the case – people who knew her personally also called in to confront her.
Mourtzoukou’s mum told Open TV in November that her daughter exhibited “delinquent behaviour” from the age of 10 and was taken to a psychologist, who diagnosed a “dual personality”.
The mum even claimed that her daughter staged her own kidnapping as a child.
Mourtzoukou hit back, claiming on TV that she had been forced into prostitution to support the family.
Her complex relationship with her mother appears linked to her confessions.
She reportedly told police during her confession: “Every time I argued with my mother, I wanted to do harm.
“She locked my mind. I did it, I regretted it, but it was already too late.”
Describing a traumatic childhood and alleged abuse, she has requested to be placed in a psychiatric facility rather than prison.
Mourtzoukou had already lost the court of public opinion after her TV appearances.
As she was escorted to prison in July, a woman was heard shouting “die in there”, reports Kathimerini.
‘Not the only one responsible’
Mourtzoukou’s lawyer, Nikos Alexandris, told Greek public broadcaster ERT in July that she “is not the only one responsible for this whole tragic event of the loss of five children”.
Alexandris referred to the case file, saying that “it is not tied” as “the forensic reports are not included”.
In the high-security prison in the suburbs of Athens, Mourtzoukou reportedly shares a cell with a Cypriot woman accused of child abuse and a woman accused of sexually assaulting her grandchildren.
It comes after Roula Pispirigou, another mum from a Peloponnesian town 45 miles away, was sentenced to life in May for the murder of her three daughters.
Like Mourtzoukou, Pispirigou was a familiar face on talk shows, where she repeatedly denied murdering her children before a high-profile trial.
The tragic deaths of the children linked to Mourtzoukou have sparked a debate in Greece over the failures of the country’s child protection system.
In neither Mourtzoukou’s case nor Pispirigou’s were social services or child psychiatric departments called in when their children were hospitalised.
Psychiatrists publicly discussing the cases have suggested both women may have Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
