True Crime with Kimbyr - Model Julie Nist Goes Missing: Who Is To Blame? Part 3

Episode Date: September 2, 2024

In the final part of this gripping episode, Kimbyrleigha delves into the heartbreaking case of Julie Nist, also known as Julie Scully. Julie, a New Jersey model, met George Skiadopoulos, a Greek cruise ship officer, while on vacation with her husband, Tim Nist. Their passionate affair led to her divorce and a new life in Greece. However, the romance took a dark and deadly turn when George, consumed by jealousy, brutally murdered Julie and dismembered her body to fit into a suitcase. This chilling story of love turned fatal concludes with George's conviction and the lasting impact on both the U.S. and Greece. Join Kimbyrleigha as she unravels the final twists of this haunting tale. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On October 20th, she flies to Greece to meet up with him to see if the feelings would still be there. Greece was beautiful. She had never lived anywhere like that. All the feelings. She finally thinks this confirmed it. George was the right choice. The next step was meeting his parents. They were taking this long drive and George was showing her all around and they were discussing their plans. But all George kept emphasizing was that he couldn't wait. to get the money because he had convinced her to help him open up a taxi cab business. He said it would be better than him going on the cruise ships because they would get to spend more time together. It would be like Tim and Julie having their own company together.

And the settlement money was going to help them so much. To Julie, it seemed like that's all he kind of cared about. She chalked it up to him being excited. Remember, he was 22. He didn't have much life experience. George was giving her the time of her life, taking her out to dinners, going on trips to different tourist spots, buying souvenirs, and they even spent time filling out their application so that they could get married in Greece in December. By October 25th, they were flying to his hometown, and she was finally going to meet his mom. All of a sudden, George's tone just changed, and he said, we need to have a serious conversation before you step foot in my mother's home.

She was just shocked and she was staring at him waiting and he said very sternly, you can never let my mom know you were married. And more importantly, you can never, ever let her know that you have a child. It turns out that his family is Greek Orthodox and they would see this as immoral. There was a chance that they would condemn him or even disown him, which is crazy. But that's just the way it was. I thought this was crazy because I was thinking how long could she? keep that a secret? She can't keep a secret forever. This is her child. But she played it off.

Everyone seemed to like her and say that she was lovely. When she returned back home, she began packing right away, packing up everything she owned, and she was having it shipped all the way to Greece. She didn't even have a place to live yet. It was definitely like putting the cart before the horse and no one understood why in the world she would be rushing to do this. It's like she couldn't get away from her family fast enough. On November 22nd, she threw a party for little Katie. It was her third birthday and everyone came, including the friends that she had pushed away. They were there for Katie.

All Julie talked about was her trip to Greece and how excited she was to move. Tony had expected her to talk about how hard it was to be away from her family and Katie in the transition. But all she mentioned was that it was really hard because she couldn't find anywhere. to get her nails done. Tony just felt sick to his stomach. Julie was set. She was planning to move December 6th. Tim would take ownership of their house and he was already starting to move things back in. He noticed on the day she was leaving that she was heavily intoxicated. He came by and she was just taking shot after shot. It wasn't his business or his problem anymore, but he couldn't help feeling bad for her. Tim still loved her.

if Julie was a mess. Perhaps she thought if I'm wasted, it's going to be easier to say goodbye. But Tim kept telling her just ripped the band-aid off. Say goodbye and leave or you're going to miss your flight. Julie's friend Sue drove her off to the airport and said goodbye. Julie was finally free. She arrived in Greece on December 8th, but she was shocked when she arrived. She could not believe how bad the weather was. In October, when she was, she was. In October, when she was, she arrived, she was. came to visit. It was sunny. It was beautiful. They spent time on the beach. And now it was cold. Absolutely dreadful. A ton of snow was on the ground. And even though it could be pretty to some people, this is not what she was expecting. But once she saw George, her world felt sunny again. They didn't

have a place of their own yet. They'd be staying with George's mother. It really was like they were teenagers again. They had a lot to do. They had a lot to do. They needed a marriage license, an apartment. they were planning a wedding. It was overwhelming, but it was also really exciting. First on that list was getting a bank account to deposit the first portion of her settlement funds. They decided it would be best if they got a joint bank account since Julie didn't speak the language.

She would need George to assist her with that. Plus, they were about to be husband and wife, so they deposited $80,000 into the joint account and kept $18,000 in cash. They were living the life. They were looking for apartments during the day, and then they were partying all night at a different hotel and bar. Time was just flying by, and before they knew it, it was Christmas time. The good thing was Julie was still in touch with all of her friends and her mom and Katie. She tried calling Katie on Christmas Eve, but she had been drinking and she forgot about the time difference.

She had to wait until the next day, but she was very anxious, and when she did call, she told Katie that she missed her. She wished she could see the beautiful town of Kavala. Sunday, January 3rd, 1999, Julie turned 31, and they had a big party to celebrate. They were now living in a luxury hotel until they finalized the lease on their apartment. It was one of the most expensive hotels in the area called Ignatia Hotel. And luckily, just a week later, they were finally moved in to their new apartment. It was in the most expensive area in Kavala. They prepaid the rent and cash for an entire. year. On Friday, January 8th, Julie and George went to pick up their marriage license. They planned to get married on January 23rd. Everything seemed to be falling into place. Next stop, Athens, to pick up all

of Julie's belongings. They had finally shipped from New Jersey. It was a six-hour drive, but they were excited. Not only that, this was the only location the items could be shipped to, and that was okay. George wanted to show how beautiful the country was. His grandmother, mother and his father lived there, so they would have a place to stay at his grandmother's house. They were getting kind of a late start due to some bad news. George's brother was sick, and they had to meet his mom at the hospital. They did their very best to console his mom, but they knew they had to go. They didn't want to miss their appointment to pick up their rental car.

They chose a white fiat pinto, and by 5 p.m., they began their drive to Athens. George figured they would stop on the way if the weather got real bad or they got hungry. Back in New Jersey, everyone's life is carrying on as usual, except when Sue gets a call on Monday morning, January 11th. Sue was busy rushing around, getting her son ready for school when her home phone started ringing. She picked up and she heard a breathless, panicked voice on the other end. At first, she had no idea who this was. It was very hard for her to understand them and the connection was terrible. Finally, she could make out the words.

I can't find her. I can't find her. It was George. Sue wasn't worried. She knew Julie. Julie was spontaneous. She told George to calm down. Explain exactly what was going on. He told her about their drive to get Julie's things. His grandmothers. Their plans, everything. She had spoken to Julie not too long ago and Julie was not in a good mood. But she was used to that. That was the way she was. She could get upset at the drop of a hat. She asked George if they had an argument or anything and he said no. What Sue gathered from this conversation with George was that George and Julie made it to Athens on Friday night. They laid low on Saturday because they were tired after a long trip. On Sunday night, they took a trip to, I hope I'm saying this right, to Omonia Square in downtown Athens. It's very similar to New York's Times Square. It's known as the heart of Athens. It's a very busy area full of shops, bars, clubs, clubs.

restaurants. It's really easy to get lost in a crowd. Julie was in a foreign country. She did not speak the language. She could easily lose her bearings. But on the other hand, she was very independent and somewhat stubborn. George said they had been walking around sightseeing for a while and got hungry. He wanted to call his grandma to let her know they would be out late. They'd grab a bite to eat and then head to the bars. Julie didn't want to waste anyone on food. So she was just going to grab some McDonald's and then they were going to make their way out to enjoy. the nightlife. The last thing he remembers was seeing her walking towards McDonald's on a dark, crowded street. She was supposed to meet him back at the payphone, but she never did. He waited there

a few minutes and then started to get worried, so he made his way back to McDonald's. She wasn't there. He said he got scared. He didn't know what to do, so he called his grandmother back to tell her what had happened. Then he rang his mother asking if she had heard from Julian. She said no. He calls his father, Pavlov. He lived nearby and he told him what was going on and he rushed over to help George look for her. After a while, they realized their efforts were in vain. So they went to the police station and they reported Julie missing. George told Sue, they didn't even seem to care. They told him it was common for people to get lost there and that she would be fine. She would probably make her way to the police department soon and asked them for help. But George and his father did not give up. They walked around

frantically with George in tears for hours going to each and every establishment with a picture of Julie in their hands asking, have you seen her? George told Sue what Julie was wearing. A black dress, high heels, and her hair was in a ponytail. Sue had suspected Julie had left George. Because on her last phone call, Julie told Sue she missed Katie so much. She was having trouble with the language barrier. She couldn't read the newspaper. She didn't understand the street signs. anything. She was actually calling pretty frequently. Even told Sue she called Katie every day. She seemed homesick, which was completely normal. So she said that maybe Julie should take a break. He told Sue she had about $200 in cash and her credit cards on her, but then he said something that really

concerned her. He said that he found her passport in the car. He also explained that a cop had told him that he saw Julie, but now he couldn't find the cop and he didn't know what to do. He couldn't even get into their apartment if he drove back home because the key was missing and he said he thought Julie might have it. Sue hung up and she immediately called him. When he heard that Julie had gone missing, he told Sue she was probably on her way back to the U.S. until he found out about the passport. That was completely out of character for Julie. She would never mess that up at this point they're calling all of Julie's friends to find out if anyone had heard from her. Meanwhile, George tells Sue he's going to head to the American Embassy.

Tracy had some interesting information about the last time she spoke to Julie. On January 6th, just two days before their trip to Athens, Julie called Tracy distraught. She was hyperventilating, Tracy couldn't understand her, she was drunk. So Tracy wasn't sure what to think, but she said Julie wanted to come home. She missed Katie way too much. She couldn't eat. She couldn't sleep. Tracy says, just come back.

If you're feeling that way, just come home. But through tears, Julie said she couldn't. It would be too embarrassing. She made this choice. Her friends would think she's crazy. Tim had the house. Where was she going to go? Julie said she had to be strong and just work it out.

Tracy told Julie not to be ridiculous. She could come live with her just for a little while. Maybe just come back and visit and decide what to do next. Tracy even got on the phone with George. He was saying the same thing. He was trying to console Julie, but she told George no. George told Tracy they found out there was no way for him to get out of his military service, so she would most likely have to come back to the U.S. anyway anytime he was away.

After the phone call, Tracy began making arrangements for Julie to come back, which included her staying at Tracy's. She was keeping it to herself until she could work things out. She said the only person who knew was Julia. She called to let her know the good news. Julie was coming back, but Julia was pissed. She could never put the past behind her. She wouldn't forgive Julie for leaving Katie behind. Now, Tim, let's Tracy know that.

Julia ran it by him. He didn't take it seriously though, but he did think it was a bad idea for her to be coming in and out of Katie's life. She was just beginning to adjust to life without Julie there. That night Julie also tried to call her mother, but Julia didn't want to talk to her so she handed the phone to Tim. Tim told Julie it was a terrible idea for her to be coming back and forth right now. So at that point, Julie had no choice but to agree. Later, Tim remembers hearing the phone ringing, but he was busy. He was getting into the shower, so he never picked it up. This was the last time anyone from the United States talked to Julie as far as they knew.

So what happened? When Tony was informed about Julie's disappearance, he admitted that Julie had called him on October 7th while George was visiting. She said George was in jail in New Jersey. She was desperately begging Tony to post his bail, which he refused to do. Julie said Julia had accused George of strangling her and that Tim was conspiring against George to have him arrested. Tony wasn't so sure that was exactly how the story went, but he told everyone that that was the real reason George went back to Greece. It wasn't on his own volition. It was an agreement with the prosecutor. And Tim had pushed for it. He didn't want George around Katie after what happened. It was time to talk to Julia and Tim. As it turns out, Julia had a different story.

She said she had had enough of George. She told him he was pathetic. Living in Julie's house, grow the F up. This infuriated George to the point where he was yelling in Julia's face and then he grabbed her. And he pushed her against the wall and he wasn't stopping. She was gasping for breath, trying her hardest to pull away from this man. And if Julie hadn't come into the room at that time, she probably would have died. Julie is trying to pull him off of her mother, but he wouldn't stop.

She finally tells him, if you don't stop, you're going to go to jail, we're not going to be able to be together. And that's when he let go. Julia didn't wait a second. She ran to the phone and she called 911. The police came and arrested George and threw him in jail. That is when Julie reached out to Tony and he refused to help. Tim jumped in to save Julie and his daughter. daughter from a maniac. He begged the prosecutor to make a deal. If Julia agreed to drop the charges,

they would deport him back to Greece with no opportunity for him to stop at their house. He had to immediately get on a plane and leave, and that's exactly what he did. Julie was frantically trying to make a different plan. She calls Tony and says, hey, can George hide and stay at your place? That's insane. He pretty much says, uh, no. And when he did, Julie gave him a big F-U and hung up on him. I can't believe Julie was willing to take the blame for everything that happened. She jumps on a plane to Greece and follows George saying that it was her that strangled her mother, not George, that Julia hated him. She just didn't want Julie to be happy.

So she made a false report, and it was George that pulled Julie off of her mother. She made George out to look like the person who rescued Julia. Who would you believe? Let's jump back to the present. Later that same day, Sue gets another call from George. He had this fear in his voice and he tells her the truth. Him and Julie had been arguing before she went missing. Things were starting to sound pretty frightening and Tracy and Sue decided they were going to team up and do whatever it took to find Julie.

The plan was to have Sue continue to talk to George. pretend like she cared about him, hoping she could coax him to give her more information. Tracy's job was to connect with the American embassy in Greece. She was calling hospitals all around Athens, and an operator at the embassy corroborated that George had actually called, come in, and reported Julie missing. It was really difficult. There wasn't anyone who spoke English at the police station in Greece, and it didn't seem like the Greek authorities cared.

However, Tracy found someone in the U.S. that was willing to translate for them. And on Wednesday, George called to update Sue. It was hard for Julie's friends not to believe that George was involved. And when he called on Wednesday to update them, Sue tried to convince him that the search was getting really serious in the U.S. She said that the FBI was involved and his tone changed. But as soon as it changed, it went right back to him being grateful

and said he was glad that they were doing all that for Julie. But the next thing raised a big red flag. George tells Tracy and Sue he no longer has Julie's passport because thieves took it. Right. Okay. So her passport just gets stolen. Every possible theory was being explored by Julie's friends and family. Was it human trafficking?

Had George sold her into slavery? Was she kidnapped? Had she tried to run off somewhere and gotten lost? Was she out looking for drugs and met the wrong people? What happened? A week has gone by. They were more worried than ever and George seemed to be in this frantic state of mind. He started questioning them, asking them, what specific conversations did you have with Julie when she called you last? I didn't think that was unusual because I'd want to know that too. Two weeks after George had reported Julie missing, guess where he was at the bank? And guess what he was trying to do? Get Julie's money out. the check hadn't cleared and this made George very angry. He yelled in the teller's face and he left the building in a huff. On January 23rd, which was supposed to be the day that Julie and George got married, Julie's family put out a press release. News stations were beginning to run the story. The Trentonian

gets involved. They had recently interviewed Julie for a new segment called, What Are They Doing Now? The reporter who had done the interview thought there were gaps in the story and he wanted to interview Julie's family and friends. He wrote an entire report that appeared in the front page of the newspaper. This is one of their own. They wanted to do everything they could to help her. The story was reaching news outlets in Greece and this set George off. He started bombarding Sue, calling and screaming in her ear, asking why they were trying to pin this on him, that he was not guilty. Now the Greek authorities were finally doing something. George went on TV telling the same story he had told everybody else, but Julie's family noticed something. He wasn't referring to her by name. He just kept calling her the woman. Who does that? However, he's still cooperating with police. Tim finally told reporters about George's arrest in New Jersey a few months earlier. They interviewed Julia to corroborate the details. Things were really starting to heat up.

But time was not on their side. 16 days had gone by since Julie was reported missing. The Greek police took George into an interrogation room, and their chief inspector started to interrogate George. He just stuck to the same story, but it's very hard to outsmart experienced law enforcement agents. After four long hours, George confessed that he killed Julie. He insisted it was in the heat

of the moment. That he loved Julie so much. This was not what he intended. Things just got out of control. He was crying and he was very believable. But it didn't matter because he confessed. Julie was dead. They wanted all the details and they wanted them now. In a taped confession, George admitted that Julie had never gone missing. He had lied to everyone, even himself. He was even starting to believe in some delusional state of mind that he hadn't done this, but he did. He told the chief inspector the entire story about how they met, how they fell in love, that he felt awful, that she cheated on Tim, but the passion for each other was too strong to avoid. He felt even worse, that she was willing to leave Katie behind, but it's what Julie wanted, that she told

him she needed to escape from Tim. That made George feel better, but George told the inspector he did not want to be the reason Julie left Tim, but he felt he was. He said that their relationship was perfect, he conveniently left out the fact that he strangled Julie's mother. Friends suspected all along that he probably did the same thing to Julie. George went on to admit Julie wasn't happy once she moved to Greece. She began to complain about everything. She called the Greeks late. with bad attitudes and not friendly. She was bored. There was nothing to do in the towns and they were nothing like she expected. The beauty of the city was outweighed by her inability to communicate and make friends and indulge in the things that she loved the most about her home. She was homesick. He said he tried to be supportive, but Julie would oscillate between wanting to leave and saying that she was fine and she was going to learn to live a different lifestyle. for him. George even mentioned the truth that he talked to Tracy and told her it would be best for Julie to come back home. She just wasn't ready yet. He went on to say, he knew it was best if she just left him,

but it was too complicated. She had her child back home. His parents would not have agreed with all of it. The passion was wearing off and he wanted her to be happy. So he was thinking, I'm going to force her hand. And that's when he says he figured if she started to hate him, She would finally go back. They were going to have to be away from each other for two years anyway. He had to serve in the military. So in that time apart, maybe they would find out that they truly wanted to be together or they didn't. He told the inspector that it was his plan to become physical with her, hoping she would get the point.

He said he knew Julie would never stand for it. If he hurt her, she was sure to leave. He wasn't planning on seriously injuring her. inspector called bullshit, even though George was hysterically crying. Then he admitted what he did to poor Julie, the woman that loved him, and left behind her entire life to take her chance on this young Greek staler. What you're about to hear was no accident. Investigators knew that part was a lie. They suspected Julie was slipping out of George's grasp. She wanted to leave him. They had enough experience to know George was just trying to cover his ass and act like he wasn't a violent man, a monster, overcome with jealousy

and rage who couldn't bear losing a woman he never deserved to begin with. If he couldn't have her, no one else would. The truth is that Julie began calling her daughter Katie nonstop for weeks every day, sometimes multiple times a day. She would cry and cry. George told the truth. She started complaining about everything. She complained to friends. that she just wasn't used to this. She felt like she was slum in it. Then George admitted that his mother found out about Julie's daughter. And she was disgusted that a mother would leave her child behind like that.

She confronted both Julie and George. That is why they moved into the hotel. His mother kicked them out. Julie knew she wanted to leave. She just talked crap about Greece, saying it's not even comparable to America. on December 8th, a family member had to pry George's hands off of Julie's neck. George had had enough. He grabbed Julie during one of their arguments, and he began cutting off

her airway, just gripping her neck tighter and tied her until someone had to pull him off. Julie was shocked. It was in that moment she started to realize that she could be in real danger. She tried to run and find a police station to press charges, but George's family, stopped her. They tried to convince her was out of character for him. He just wanted her to love Greece and be happy. They said they knew he wasn't going to hurt her, but didn't he just hurt her? After this incident, they got kicked out of their hotel because other occupants complained about all the yelling. One of the maids came forward and said that they had been arguing nonstop for days. They went to stay at another hotel. That's when George caught Julie trying to call home.

and tell her friends what happened. He would grab the phone and slam it down each time. Julie had realized by now, they really didn't have that much in common. She had never had anyone become physical like that with her. George started to get obsessed and paranoid that she was trying to figure out how to escape. The day they were planning on picking up her things,

she told George as soon as they got there, she was going to send her things right back to New Jersey. Meanwhile, George's family members were being questioned as well and things that no one knew came to the surface. As it turns out, he was known to go into a fit of rage and become violent. People noticed he was very unstable. His mom had schizophrenia and she had spent time in mental hospitals. George definitely had issues. He was narcissistic. He thought he was better than everyone else and he was very arrogant. But he was a good actor. And that's the thing. Everything was.

enact. He saw Julie as a possession. He was only trying to get what he could out of her, possibly her money. They couldn't get into George's mind, but this is what they suspected. When George's dad cheated on his mother, he got so violent, he stabbed him in the neck with a kitchen knife, then kicked him down their stairs. His dad had to be in the hospital for several weeks. George spent time locked up in an institution for the clinically insane. They thought maybe he was suffering from schizophrenia like his mom. It was when he got out of the institution that his family sent him to a trade school. They were hoping they could find something that would put him on a better path. He was medicated at the time,

but he had stopped taking his pills. He said they were no good and he was against them. It's sad that his family would keep this from Julie. Do you think as parents they had an obligation to let her know the truth? Why would you protect him? George's family wasn't the only one with new information. Sue had some as well. She said that when Julie flew back to New Jersey on November 8th, there were stitches on her arm. Julie swore it was because her hand accidentally went through a window, but Sue had a feeling she was lying. She told her, please take care of yourself and at the very least take some of your money and keep it in a bank account in New Jersey.

George called her in the middle of this conversation and to Sue's surprise, she heard Julie telling George about her plan to leave some money. in the US. He goes ballistic, accuses her of being selfish. On January 8th, the couple were making that long drive to Athens in the dark on a desolate two lane highway. They weren't really talking to each other. And once they did, they got into yet another argument. They were in such close quarters.

They're in a car. They can't cool off. They can't walk away. It was not a good situation. We can only speculate exactly what was going through George's mind, but the investigators are probably right because all of a sudden George stopped the car. He told Julie he had to relieve himself, but that's not what happened. They were in the middle of nowhere, and George knew this area really well. He knew no one would see them. No one

would hear them. No one could help Julie, no matter how loud she screamed. He parked the car, turned off the engine. Then he looked over at Julie. He said she must have known that something was going to happen because he could tell she was scared. He locked the doors and without warning, he reached out and grabbed her throat. And he squeezed as hard as he could. He said Julie began to scream. She was trying to defend herself. And he just wanted to shut her up.

So he squeezed harder. He said he wasn't in his right mind. It's like he was outside of his body and he couldn't control what he was doing. She kept yelling and saying, What are you trying to do? He just squeezed harder and harder for what seemed like a few seconds, but it had to be at least three whole minutes because that's typically how long it would take someone to become unconscious or to take their life.

It was in that moment he realized that he had crushed her neck. He could tell there was nothing left in her. Her body just slid down in the seat. George said he thought he was dreaming. He couldn't believe what he had just done. The first thing that came to his mind was getting rid of her. And he would end his life as well. He thought he would honor their relationship.

They met at sea, so to the sea she would go. He would set her body ablaze and then throw her ashes into the water, then jump off a cliff to join her forever. That's not what happened. We know because he's here and Julie isn't. He's a coward. He told investigators that he attempted to take his life. Three separate times, a BB gun to the neck, jumping in front of a truck, and an overdose.

And he insists none of them worked. I guess you didn't try hard enough. That was mean, but... He tossed her into the trunk, drove to a gas station, and bought a canister of gasoline, then drove back close to where he had ended her life, and that's where he tried to set her on fire. By two lakes in a secluded area, he removed her from the trunk, dragged her near the lakes, and proceeded to douse her in gasoline. He didn't hesitate to set her on fire. He sat there and watched as her clothes went up in flames. He stared at her as the flames began to consume her corpse, but it was raining so she wasn't burning.

The fire wouldn't stay lit no matter what he did, so he just kept pouring gasoline over her. and she refused to burn. At that point, he thought maybe he should just stop and throw her in the lake instead. But he panicked and threw her back in the trunk. He raced to his grandmother's house, and luckily she wasn't home. He grabbed a big suitcase and drove right back to the lakes.

It was midnight. George no longer saw Julie as a human being. She was just something he needed to discard of. Rigor mortis hadn't completely set in so he could move her limbs, though they were charred from the thighs up. There was a problem. He could not get her entire body to fit in a rigid plastic suitcase. Her head kept sticking out.

He sat there thinking of a solution. How is he going to get rid of her? He had to get rid of the head. It's disgusting. This is a little girl's mom. She's a friend. She's a beautiful person. no matter what mistakes people think she made.

No one like Julie deserve something like this. Some people may say people like George deserve this. Evil people, not Julie. He knew there was an iron saw or a hack saw at his grandmother's house. So he dragged her back to the car and threw her into the trunk once again. Goes all the way back to his grandmothers, gets the saw, and drives back to the lake. It's close to 3 o'clock in the morning when he removes her once again, places her on a garbage bag and proceeds to get to work on her head. He penetrated where the neck meets the collarbone.

Once he was finished, he looked down to see that he was covered in head-to-to-toe with blood. I wonder if he washed himself in the lake. But he had finally completed his mission. But this next part is what I question the most, and it's. the part that haunts me. This sicko kicks up her head by her hair to look at her face to face for one last time. His face was the last face that Julie saw before her life was stolen from her. And the same face was the last face to stare back at her blank eyes. Even after all the things that George had just done to her, he said that she still looked gorgeous.

He just looked at her, not realizing this could be real. But when he looked at her face, he could see that last look on her face. The horror just stuck. And he knew what he did. George was not going to release Julie and let her rest until his lips met hers one last time. And while he was still holding her by the hair, he kissed her. This absolutely grossed me out. Her body was finally able to feel.

fit inside the suitcase. Once he stuffed it in, he threw it into the lake and he stared at it as it disappeared under the water. George had to make sure that he was the last person that could look at Julie's beautiful face. He didn't throw that in the lake. He set it down and he burned it until only a charred ball was left. He tossed what was left of her inside the trunk and drove back to Cavalla. He said one last goodbye to her before tossing. her head into the sea. All that other stuff was a lie, and he didn't report Julie missing until a couple days had already passed.

He drove all the way back to Cavala and stayed, hold up in their apartment, and then he made the 400-mile trek back to Athens just to set up his alibi. Julie never got to see the pretty lights of Ammonia Square. I want to go back to the present again because we're almost done here. Tim was notified of George's confession that evening, and he did not. not want Julie's mom to know. He needed to find out what the hell was happening and it was so hard being so far away. The news would get out soon enough and there was no way that this horrendous act was going to be a secret for long. Tim had to tell Julie's friends before they read the horrific

and I mean horrific headlines. But Julia had known all along that Julie was dead. And when Tim began to tell her, she screamed. He killed her. She told him that she had warned Julie. But Julie just said she was paranoid. 19 days. A whole 19 days had passed as Julie's body laid hidden beneath the murky water of that lake. George agreed to lead authorities to where she was and it took divers two hours to locate the suitcase containing her remains below five feet of water. I'm not going to tell you what they found. When they opened that suitcase, you can use your own imagination, But it shocked even the most seasoned detectives. George was immediately taken into custody and Julie's family was notified of the discovery.

Julia heard the devastating news on TV and she was in complete disbelief. Julia asked how someone could do that. He was supposed to love her. What kind of love is that? They had to do whatever it took to shield Katie. She couldn't know. Her innocence would be robbed from her. She was only three.

There was no way. she would be able to understand. So they had to be strong and keep things quiet at home, but it was really hard because the media gathered right outside their house day and night. Julie's friends and family got together so that they could console one another and they were praying that they could locate her head.

Tam was the one who made the trip to Greece to bring Julie's body back home and lay her to rest while George was being arraigned. He confessed out loud to reporters that he regretted what he'd done. His father hires an attorney to defend him. Why? Would you? Would you do that for your child? If this is what they had done? His mother and his grandmother had a different reaction. His mom had a stroke. Devastated for Julie and her family and his grandmother was shocked. She said that it looked like they had a perfect relationship and she was so sorry for Julie's family. And another relative reported that

George's father had to be medicated because he was such a mess. But he wasn't. wanted to express his condolences and how sorry he was. And he wished his son was dead instead of Julie, that she was innocent. And she did not deserve this, and he was so, so very sorry. The Greek prosecutor charged George with three offenses, premeditated murder, desecration of a body, and evading police. The medical examiner said that they could not determine an actual cause of death.

There was no way to examine the neck, so they didn't know whether she was strangled. whether she was strangled or if George had done something way worse. And when I told you that there were horrific headlines, there was all kinds of news about Julie's death. But some of the newspaper articles that I found hurt to read. To me, these headlines dehumanized Julie. They dehumanize these poor victims. And I would hate to know that Katie would read these later in life or could read these later in life. And the Greek press, they were already painting Julie in a negative light. All they did was show videos of her and her bikini. The Greek authorities said that this was the

worst murder that had ever occurred in their entire country. But way worse were the public. The court of public opinion came down hard on Julie. They were blaming her for her own death, even stooping solo and saying things like if you play with fire, you're going to get burned. They painted her as a bad mother, not able to forgive her for leaving Katie behind. Look, I may not agree with what Julie did, but I am not Julie. Julie was not well. We know that. We don't have to be professionals to see the signs. They were there. She was abusing substances, not taking her prescription medication, and being completely manipulated by a sociopath. Let's not judge her unless we have been in her

situation and even then take a moment to realize that we are all imperfect and it doesn't downplay or worse it doesn't justify what George did in any way. As I said Katie was three and she was beginning to ask about Julie. She had been speaking to her frequently and now it stopped. The family had no idea what they should do and that's hard. I don't think a three she would be able to understand but I hate to lie to someone, especially someone's child. And yet on the other hand, if it were me, maybe I would say mommy went away, but she loves you so much and one day you'll know the whole story. What would you do? And they were about to make an insanity plea, but George said he wanted to die, which was completely pointless because Greece didn't have a death penalty. By February 22nd,

the Greek authorities had released Julie's body to Tim, but he never got the chance to confront George, and that was okay, because the most important thing was getting Julie back home. The day of Julie's funeral, Tim decided it was time to let Katie know that she would never be seeing her mom again. This was the hardest for me to read. It was devastatingly sad. I kind of couldn't believe what I read when I read this, but I told you I would find it really hard to lie. Tim told her, your mommy is not coming back because she's dead. And that sounds harsh to me, but it had to be done. I think he had to have that closure.

It's hard for me to keep it together. I don't know how he did this. And he said that Katie cried and she cried. cried and fell into his arms. She didn't completely understand death, but she understood the concept. That's one of the saddest things that I've had to read. And I'm not telling you all the details. There are so much more. But what Julie's friends didn't want is Katie to grow up only knowing the bad things that happened to her mother. So they started a journal for her and they asked everyone who knew Julie to write things they loved about her, things that they knew, memories that

they could share and they gave that to Tim to give to Katie. Tim was the source of strength for everyone. He cared for Julie more than anyone all the way until the end. Never one complaint coming out of his mouth. And when he was questioned about what he did, he said, it would be easy for me to say, she left me for some other guy and I'm out of here. But I have a daughter, and she's looking to me to do the right thing.

I always like to tell you what happened with the trial. What was the outcome? George's trial started on Saturday, November 27th, in 1999. The legal system in Greece is much different than it is in America. There's a three-judge panel that hears all the evidence after reading the written arguments that come from both sides. It's not a jury of your peers, so the trials only last a couple days. The insanity defense was taken off the table, and Tim traveled all the way to Greece so that he could be at the trial in person. The prosecutors argued that the evidence showed George's plan to get rid of Julie in order to steal

her settlement funds. George might have been chained to his seat, but he did not sit there quietly. He made angry outburst during the prosecutor's arguments. Tim actually got on the stand and told the court that Julie was not just a model, not just a woman who wore a bikini. She was his love and his friend. And he wants George to go to jail for the rest of his life. George even decided to testify, which lasted around five hours. And it was on the last day of trial. Still making outbursts during closing arguments as well. This man was seriously unstable.

And it was on Monday, December 6th, which coincidentally was the year anniversary of Julie's move from the U.S. to Greece that George was found guilty on all three charges and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. Now I'm going to give you some bad news. The family thought that George would never see the light of day again and never be able to hurt another person. However, just three years after he was sentenced on October 8, 2002, George appealed.

He said that what he did was not premeditated. It was in a jealous rage after Julie told him she was going to leave. He pleaded to the court saying, I was in a haze when she said she was going to leave me. I had planned my life with her. It was in a moment of intense passion. and the court believed him. They said they could see that he was remorseful. He had no prior convictions, and after just one day of trial, they ended up reducing his sentence to only 23 years. And not only that, because he won the appeal, it opened the door for George to apply for early release. After all of this,

and the disgusting way that he carried out this crime, George was released in 2007. He's remarried now, and he's living with his new family in Cavalla. I can't believe that. It finally seemed that there was going to be closure, even though there really is no closure when someone we love is taken from this world so soon and in the way that Julie had been. And as far as I could tell,

they never were able to officially confirm finding Julie's skull. In 2001, a partial skull was recovered in the sea near the site where she was killed. The coroner said it appeared to be consistent with a school that had been submerged for three years. years, but they could not use the teeth for dental identification. A Greek tourist had actually found the school on September 2nd, and it was floating about 100 feet from shore. At the end of the day, we are all human. We want the same things. We want love and happiness in a long life. Julie had two

of those things. And chasing both of them robbed her of the life she could have had if it wasn't for a manipulative monster who convinced her that the grass was greener on his side of the world.