Their assessment of the accused's reactions during Georgina's hospitalization at the University Hospital in Rio was testified by two nurses at the trial of Roula Pispirigou, at the Mixed Jury Court.
The witnesses, Konstantina Athanasopoulou and Eleni Psilogeorgapoulou, spoke about the behavior and reactions of the mother of the child who was transferred to the Rio ICU in April 2021 after the attack she suffered in Karamandanio.
According to the two nurses, the whole picture of the 34-year-old accused, who had already lost her two youngest children, was so different from the usual one they see with parents of children at risk, that it had aroused their interest. The nurses said that it was Pispirigou's very different reactions that ultimately made her "remarkable behavior".
As Mrs. Athanasopoulou said about R. Pispirigou, "she was typical. He came to all the visits. At first with her husband, then alone. He had a cool attitude, cold towards the child. From incidents we have seen with other parents, they react differently and this picture was remarkable. Usually there is sadness, sadness, I couldn't see this image on the mother's face."
When asked by the president whether the 34-year-old expressed her interest by asking questions to the staff, the nurse replied: "No, she did not ask us questions. From the fact that two children had been lost in the family, this was something unexpected. What I was seeing was remarkable."
He also stated that the accused was trained by the nurses to give Georgina food and medicine through the gastrostomy and that she was familiar with this procedure.
President: How was the accused's time in the visiting room? How much was it? One hour;
Witness: He was coming to the visiting office. He didn't sit much sometimes. Maybe due to covid. According to the information I had from nurses, he used to put children's clothes on Georgina, took them with the pram. She was efficient, what she had to do, she did.
Defense Counsel: Are you telling the interrogator she was comfortable? What do you mean;
Witness: He was not troubled. He had a comfort about the situation. The mother took it very cool, she was detached. Parents in Greece, in the many years I have been working, treat it completely differently.
Referring to Georgina's condition after she was extubated, the witness testified that the little girl, who now had quadriplegia, could perceive some stimuli and seemed to have a perception.
Regarding the episodes that Georgina displayed shortly before she finally died, in January 2022, when she was found again in Rio, Mrs. Athanasopoulou said that everything was manifested in the Pediatric Clinic. “There were discussions about how while he was reporting episodes in the Pediatric Clinic, he would come to the ICU and have nothing. We said it is not possible for him to have episodes in Pediatrics and not show anything in the ICU. We were saying what's going on? We were all concerned. It was not possible with so many machines that something could not be detected," he noted.
In her testimony, the second nurse, K. Psiloggeorgakopoulou, emphasized that the mother "did not look like a mother who was upset, she did not approach the child easily. She was cold, detached, not like a mother who had lost two children and was in danger of a third. What impressed me is that there was no mourning."
The witness mentioned that the mother did not participate when they bathed and changed the child and that this is also not common, as parents even if they are afraid want to participate in these procedures to be close to their children.
Prosecutor: You say you changed the child's position and gave him a bath, did the mother participate?
Witness: No.
Prosecutor: Did the mother notice if the child is washed and clean?
Witness: He had not given us any hint.
The trial will continue on May 30
Source: RES-EAP