Greek authorities have detained five individuals related to the murder of University of California, Berkeley professor Przemyslaw Jeziorski. Among those arrested are his former wife, Nadia Michelidaki, and her partner, Christos Dounias, who reportedly admitted to the shooting.
Jeziorski, a 43-year-old associate professor of marketing at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, was fatally shot on July 4, 2025, in Athens. He was there to spend time with his two children and attend a custody hearing. The incident took place around 4:15 p.m. in the Agia Paraskevi area, near his ex-wife’s residence.
According to Konstantina Dimoglidou, a spokesperson for Greek police, the professor was approached by a masked assailant who fired at close range, striking Jeziorski in the neck and chest. Seven shell casings from a 9mm gun were recovered from the scene. Witnesses saw a masked individual in black firing approximately six shots before escaping.
The suspects appeared in an Athens court on Thursday. They have been granted time until Monday to prepare their defenses. Dounias faces charges of premeditated murder and has confessed, police sources report. Three other men, including two from Albania and one from Bulgaria, are charged with aiding in the murder.
Michelidaki is being charged as a moral accomplice, although her lawyer insists on her innocence. Police suggest she orchestrated the crime. The couple had been divorced for three years and were involved in a contentious custody battle over their 10-year-old twins.
Police tracked the suspects’ movements using their vehicle. They determined the gunman and two accomplices arrived together at the scene but split up afterward. To evade identification, the shooter gave his phone and car keys to a third accomplice and fled to Nafplio, about 80 miles from Athens.
Lukasz Jeziorski, the victim’s brother, confirmed the arrests and expressed that “Our family is heartbroken”, but thanked Greek authorities for their efforts. He noted that Przemyslaw Jeziorski had plans to take his children to Gdynia, Poland, and Disneyland Paris.
The children, who are citizens of the U.S. and Poland, are currently under Greek protective custody. Lukasz Jeziorski emphasized the family’s concern for the children’s safety and their reconnection with family to minimize trauma. The children had applied for Greek citizenship, pending a decision.
Jeziorski, known as Przemek or PJ, was a tenured professor who held the Egon and Joan von Kaschnitz Distinguished Professorship in Business Administration. A native of Poland, he had taught at the University of California, Berkeley, for 13 years, instructing over 1,500 MBA and PhD students in data analytics.
Dean Jenny Chatman of the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business stated that the community is heartbroken over Jeziorski’s death, describing him as a valued member of the faculty. Professor Zsolt Katona, who helped recruit Jeziorski in 2012, remembered him as a remarkable individual and supportive colleague who was a devoted father.
Jeziorski was an authority in quantitative marketing, industrial organization, and digital markets’ economics. He co-founded Keybee, a property management startup, with his ex-wife. He filed for divorce in June 2021.
Born on April 24, 1982, in Gdynia, Poland, Jeziorski earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the Warsaw School of Economics. He moved to the U.S. to further his education, obtaining two more master’s degrees from the University of Arizona before starting his doctorate in economics at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business in 2006.
Students and colleagues recall Jeziorski as an enthusiastic educator who developed accessible marketing analytics courses. Former students credited him with aiding their career advancement, commending his ability to simplify complex topics and his commitment to mentoring PhD students.
