Greek police find headless body of former model
Repo...@school.com
Associated
Press news wire:
Greek police find headless body of former model
The Associated Press
1/27/99
KAVALA, Greece (AP) -- The Greek boyfriend of a New Jersey pinup model
was
"blinded by his passion" when he strangled her to keep her from
returning home,
then set her body ablaze and cut off her head with a hacksaw,
authorities said.
Cruise ship officer George Skiadopoulos led investigators Wednesday to
the
headless body of Julie Scully of Mansfield. The two met on a cruise
ship, and
had planned to marry.
Her burned and dismembered body was found in a suitcase in a swamp
outside the
northern city of Kavala, where she moved last month with the intention
of
wedding Skiadopoulos.
The severed head was thrown into the sea, police said.
Skiadopoulos, 24, was in handcuffs as he accompanied investigators in
the early
morning search about 100 miles northeast of Salonica. He was immediately
charged with murder, and was being held under heavy guard.
"We're just heartbroken," said Tracey Allen of Ewing, a close friend of
Scully.
"We loved her very much; we're going to miss her for the rest of our
lives.
It's going to be really hard, especially on Katie," her 3-year-old
daughter.
Scully's ex-husband, Tim Nist, could not be reached for comment this
morning.
Gen. Pavlos Roubis, head of the Athens security police, said
Skiadopoulos was
"blinded by his passion," Jan. 8 when he strangled Ms. Scully during an
argument on a muddy farm road.
Skiadopoulous was about to be drafted into the Greek army, Roubis said.
According to police, Skiadopoulos doused Ms. Scully with gasoline and
set her
ablaze after strangling her. He then put her body in a suitcase and used
a
hacksaw to cut off her head so the body would fit inside.
He then threw her charred head into the sea, police said.
Police say he then traveled to Athens after concocting a story of her
disappearance that he later told police, the American embassy and
reporters.
At first, Skiadopoulos claimed he last saw the 31-year-old former model
following an argument in Athens on Jan. 10. He then led the search and
was in
contact with Ms. Scully's family.
But police questioned Skiadopoulos, a petty officer on a cruise ship,
for about
four hours and obtained a confession. Skiadopoulos and police traveled
through
the night to Kavala.
Ms. Scully, who was awarded about $600,000 in a divorce settlement, had
moved
to Kavala last month to marry Skiadopoulos, whom she had met on a
Caribbean
cruise in 1997.
But she reportedly told her family on Jan. 6 that she missed her Katie,
and
wanted to return to New Jersey.
"I think it's disgusting that (Skiadopoulos) would take away a little
girl's
mother because he didn't want her to leave," Allen said.
Ms. Scully was known in New Jersey's capital, Trenton, for her
appearance as a
sultry "Page 6 Girl" in the Trentonian newspaper. She also appeared on
the show
"Hard Copy" in 1992 in a story about the Trentonian.
Ms. Scully, who attended Science and Engineering High School in
Philadelphia,
was planning to get an engineering degree before she decided to move to
Greece.
-------------------------------------------------------------
The following two news articles both appear courtesy of the 1/27/99
online
edition of The Trentonian newspaper:
Wed., Jan. 27, 1999
DEATH IN GREECE?: Boyfriend a suspect in model slaying
By ERIC LADLEY & DAVE SOMMERS
Staff Writers
A former Trentonian model missing in Greece since Jan. 10 was probably
murdered, Greek police said yesterday -- and they suspect her boyfriend
of
dismembering her body and hiding the remains in a rocky ravine.
The family and ex-husband of Julie Scully, 31, of Mansfield, had been
suspicious ever since her boyfriend, George Skiadopoulos, claimed she
vanished
while walking to a McDonald's in Athens.
Scully had recently left her American husband and went to live in
northern
Greece with her beau with $600,000 coming to her in a divorce
settlement.
Last night, police were reportedly driving Skiadopoulos to a remote spot
near
Kavala, his hometown in northern Greece, where officials believe he may
have
dumped the beauty's body. A search is set to begin at 7 a.m. today,
Greek time
(midnight EST).
Skiadopoulos yesterday gave police a rambling statement during a
four-hour
interrogation, leading them to believe he killed his girlfriend out of
jealousy
because she wanted to return home, sources in Greece said last night.
According to one source, the suspect said there may be "chopped-up body
parts
lying in a ravine" but never identified them as Scully's body or said he
committed a crime.
Nevertheless, Greek police say they believe Skiadopoulos killed her and
hid her
body. They have not yet charged him with a crime but are keeping him in
custody.
Back in New Jersey, Scully's family last night was overcome with grief
at the
news.
"For me, the toughest part about it is that I wasn't there to protect
her,"
said her ex-husband, Tim Nist, 42, of Mansfield, choking back tears.
Nist and his ex-wife's friends and family had made it clear they were
suspicious of Skiadopoulos, especially after he was charged with
assaulting
Scully's mother, Julia, last Sept. 28 at Nist's home.
"That man, he was like an addiction," Julia Scully said last night,
crying. "I
told her not to trust him. But she said, 閃om, you read too many
novels.'"
A sultry 5-foot-7, 120-pounder, Julie Scully was half-Navajo Indian and
featured 10 times on The Trentonian's Page 6 since 1989. She also
modeled for
Coors Light and Miller beer ads and went on "The Maury Povich Show" in
1992 to
defend Page 6 from attacks by a women's rights activist.
When Scully disappeared Jan. 10, the family wondered how the headstrong
woman
could have left New Jersey and a successful husband and her 3-year-old
daughter
to live with a balding cruise-ship maintenance man who was seven years
younger
than her.
At the prodding of the U.S. Embassy, the Athens police homicide unit
took up
the case yesterday, and they grilled Skiadopoulos for four hours.
Skiadopoulos at first had told the Greek police that Scully disappeared
after a
drive from their apartment in Kavala to Athens.
Once they reached Athens, he said, she went to eat at a McDonald's.
One of Scully's friends, Susan White of Moorestown, said he told her
that he
and Scully had an argument because he wanted to make a phone call and
she
wanted something to eat.
In an interview with the Greek TV network Antenna, he mentioned the call
and
the McDonald's, but not the argument.
Athens police interviewed McDonald's employees, who they said couldn't
recall
seeing anyone who matched Scully's description.
Skiadopoulos was asked by a Greek TV reporter if he still had Scully's
passport
photo. He said he lost the photo after he went to the McDonald's in
search of
his girlfriend, showed people the photo and was robbed by a gunman.
A woman who answered the phone last night at the Skiadopoulos family
home in
Athens said he has not been charged with anything.
The woman declined to be identified but said she is Skiadopoulos'
stepmother.
She said her husband, Paul Skiadopoulos, who is the suspect's father,
planned
to go to the police station this morning to find out what happened.
In his rambling four-hour statement, Skiadopoulos said Scully told him
she
wanted to leave Greece before she police, police said. Later, he began
talking
about body parts and agreed to lead cops to a site, cops said.
Allen said the last time she phoned Scully on Jan. 6, her friend wanted
to
leave Greece and missed her 3-year-old daughter, Katie Scarlet Nist.
Scully had talked about marrying Skiadopoulos when she moved to Kavala
Dec. 6,
but Allen said wedding plans were in doubt.
Scully originally met Skiadopoulos on a Caribbean cruise ship while with
her
then-husband, Tim Nist, in November 1997. She went with Nist in February
1998
to see him again.
Nist said he was friendly with Skiadopoulos, a maintenance mechanic, and
didn't
learn about their liaison until after Scully asked for a divorce.
In the divorce settlement last year, Scully got $600,000, $140,000 of
which she
got in two checks before she left for Greece.
Scully bought a car while she was in Greece. Nist said Scully and
Skiadopoulos
even had a joint bank account.
Beginning last Aug. 28, Skiadopoulos quit his job and moved to the
Scully home
in Mansfield for six weeks.
However, he was forced to leave the house and move back to Greece when
he
allegedly put his hands around Mrs. Scully's throat and tried to choke
her
Sept. 28. Mansfield police confirmed yesterday they arrested him for
simple
assault on that date.
-- The Associated Press contributed to this report.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Wed., Jan. 27, 1999
全he had no fear,' sez ex-husband
By ERIC LADLEY
Staff Writer
Tim Nist, the rugged, normally unflappable ex-husband of Julie Scully,
fought
back tears yesterday as he recalled how brave and adventurous his wife
was.
Scully, the former Trentonian Page 6 girl, may have been killed in a fit
of
jealous rage by her Greek boyfriend George Skiadopoulos, police in
Athens,
Greece announced yesterday.
Less than a half-hour after getting the news, Nist stood on the porch of
his
Mansfield home talking a Trentonian reporter.
"For me, the toughest part was that I wasn't able to protect her," he
said.
Many friends advised her that making the trip to Greece wouldn't be an
amorous
adventure but a nightmare.
But, Scully, a headstrong, independent woman, thought she could take
care of
herself.
"She had no fear," Nist said. "You know, even when we used to play
softball,
she used to run out in the field and shag flies. Other girls were scared
to go
out there, but not Julie."
"That poor woman," he added. "I guess she was never able to find peace
in her
life."
Her mother, Julia Scully, said her daughter was intelligent and feisty
since
she was a girl.
Julie Scully, who grew up in Philadelphia, attended the prestigious
Science and
Engineering High School in Philly and was planning to get an engineering
degree
before she decided to move to Greece.
She appeared in The Trentonian more than 10 times, was named "Girl of
the Year"
twice and even appeared on the "Maury Povich Show" and "Hard Copy" to
defend
Page 6.
Her mom said the flamboyant attitude she displayed on the Povich show,
where
she did bikini poses on stage, factored in her desire to move to Greece.
"She
told me, 船on't worry mom, I can take care of myself.'
She said her outspokenness also angered Skiadopoulos.
"Julie was independent," her mom said. "If something was going wrong,
she would
try and fix it herself. She didn't realize that women are often treated
as
second-class citizens in Greece."
Nist said he still isn't sure how he will explain the situation to his
3-year-old daughter, Katie Scarlet Nist, who has been asking about her
mom ever
since she left.
He wanted to shield her as long as possible, but he said she is
beginning to
catch on. "It's starting to affect her," he said. "It's residual. She
knows her
mother isn't here."
At her Mansfield house yesterday, Katie was merrily running around with
her
favorite stuffed animal. She was also drawing pictures of Scully and
pointed
her mom out in a poster in their living room of Page 6 girls frolicking
on a
beach.
Mrs. Scully said she could sense that Katie has been extra affectionate
to Nist
since her mother left. "Katie's clinging to her father," she said.
Since the disappearance, Mrs. Scully has made no secret of her dislike
for
Skiadopoulos, who stayed at their Mansfield house for six weeks at the
end of
the summer. She accused the Greek national of putting his hands around
her
throat and trying to choke her last Sept. 28.
She and her daughter fought constantly when Skiadopoulos was there,
because
Mrs. Scully wanted him out of the house.
Their relations became strained, she said, but she said she always had
her
daughter's best interests at heart.
"No matter what I said to her, I loved her," she said.
The last time she spoke to her was on New Year's Day, and Scully told
her mom
how much she missed her, Katie, and her white cat, Lucky.
"She's an angel now," her friend Tracey Allen said. "Even though she's
no
longer with us physically, she will always be in our hearts."
Nist said he plans to fly to Greece in the next couple days: "I have to
go out
and get her."
Michael Devlin
a subplot to me is what a scumbag she was to leave her three year old
like that, as well as the mounting evidence, recently chronicled in the
New York Times, that hardened crew employees from cruise lines, on the
one hand, and naive American women on the other, are an increasingly
common and dangerous mix.
-
MICHAEL DEVLIN KGZ...@prodigy.com