The prosecution requested the referral to the assizes of a man suspected of having shot an Orthodox priest in October 2020 in Lyon, but also of his wife suspected of having provided him with decisive assistance, reported a judicial source, confirming information from World.
In its final indictment delivered on October 28, the prosecution calls for the dismissal of Giorgi P, 42, for “violence with a firearm, followed by permanent disability”. Quickly identified by the victim, the suspect of Georgian origin was arrested the day after the events, and initially indicted for “attempted murder”.
But the prosecution considers that the homicidal will is not characterized, and requires the dismissal for “violence with a weapon”, with the aggravating circumstance of “permanent infirmity” inflicted on the victim, which leads to the criminal qualification and a trial before the Assize Court. The decision ultimately rests with the investigating judge, who must issue an indictment order in the coming weeks.
adulterous affair
On October 31, 2020, the Greek priest, Nikolaos Kakavelakis, was targeted by a man while closing the door of the Greek Orthodox church in the 7th arrondissement of Lyon. He received two shots from a sawed-off shotgun which seriously injured him. Which, at the time, had raised fears of a terrorist attack.
But the suspect confessed to having shot twice at the level of the side and the abdomen of the priest, to take revenge for the adulterous affair between the latter and his wife. The investigators found the sawed-off shotgun on his indications, in the Saône, in Neuville-sur-Saône.
His wife, Lela P., 37, was also indicted and imprisoned in July 2022, after final investigations at the end of the judicial investigation.
A manipulative wife?
Telephony expertise revealed exchanges on a Russian-speaking application between the wife and the priest, then with her husband, on the day of the events. She is suspected of having asked the prelate where he was on the day of the events and of having then given this information to her husband.
According to the final indictment of the prosecution, she would also have contributed to “stirring up her hatred”, even if the latter refuted this version, saying that she was under the influence of her husband and in the grip of fear. The days preceding the attack, she would have encouraged her husband to take action on several occasions: “Are you afraid or what? “Don’t go home until you beat him.”
In office since 2008 in Lyon, Nikolaos Kakavelakis, 53, was contested within his parish. He had also been the subject of reports from his wife for domestic violence. Investigators also found pornographic content on his digital tablet and found that he had reset his phone while waiting for help, according to The world. But in the absence of a clear offence, no prosecution was brought against him. Since then, he has returned to live in Greece.