Greek police have arrested five people in connection with the murder of University of California, Berkeley professor Przemyslaw Jeziorski, including his ex-wife and her boyfriend, who authorities say confessed to carrying out the shooting.
Jeziorski, a 43-year-old associate marketing professor at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, was shot multiple times on July 4 while visiting Athens to see his two children and attend a family custody hearing. The shooting occurred at approximately 4:15 p.m. in the Agia Paraskevi district, near his ex-wife’s home.
According to Greek police spokesperson Konstantina Dimoglidou, a masked gunman approached Jeziorski on foot and opened fire from close range, hitting him in the neck and chest. Seven bullet casings from a 9mm caliber firearm were found at the scene. Eyewitnesses reported seeing a masked man in black who fired approximately six shots before fleeing.
The five suspects appeared in court in Athens on Thursday and have been given until Monday to prepare their pleas. The ex-wife’s current boyfriend has been charged with premeditated murder and admitted to the killing, according to police sources. Three other male suspects, including two Albanian nationals and a Bulgarian national, are facing accomplice charges for their roles in the murder.
Jeziorski’s ex-wife faces moral accomplice charges, though her attorney maintains she denies any involvement. Police sources indicate she was allegedly the orchestrator behind the crime. The couple had been divorced for three years and were involved in what sources described as a difficult custody dispute over their 10-year-old twins.
Authorities were able to track the suspects’ movements before and after the shooting by identifying their vehicle. Police determined that the shooter and two accomplices traveled together to the scene but separated afterward. The gunman handed over his mobile phone and vehicle keys to a third accomplice to avoid identification, then fled to the coastal city of Nafplio, approximately 80 miles from Athens.
Jeziorski’s brother Lukasz confirmed the arrests in a statement, noting that “Our family is heartbroken” but expressed gratitude to Greek police and security professionals who made the arrests. He indicated that his brother had planned to bring the children to their hometown of Gdynia, Poland, for their annual summer visit and had also arranged a trip to Disneyland Paris.
The victim’s two children, who are U.S. and Polish citizens, are now in Greek protective custody according to child custody procedures. Lukasz Jeziorski stated that the family’s primary concern is the children’s safety and well-being, and helping them reconnect with family to minimize trauma. The children had also applied for Greek citizenship and were awaiting a decision.
Jeziorski, who was known to colleagues and students as Przemek or PJ, was a tenured associate professor who held the Egon and Joan von Kaschnitz Distinguished Professorship in Business Administration. The Polish native had taught at Berkeley for 13 years and instructed more than 1,500 MBA and PhD students in data analytics skills.
Dean Jenny Chatman of UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business expressed being heartbroken by the news of Jeziorski’s death, describing him as a beloved member of the marketing faculty. Professor Zsolt Katona, who helped hire Jeziorski in 2012, characterized him as an amazing person, friend, and colleague who was a loving father and always available to help others.
The professor was an expert in quantitative marketing, industrial organization, and the economics of digital markets. He was also co-founder of a startup called Keybee, a short-term rental property management platform, which he had established with his ex-wife. Jeziorski filed for divorce in June 2021.
Born April 24, 1982, in Gdynia, Poland, Jeziorski earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Warsaw School of Economics before moving to the United States to continue his education. He completed two additional master’s degrees at the University of Arizona before beginning his doctoral program in economics at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business in 2006.
Students and colleagues remembered Jeziorski as a passionate teacher who created accessible courses in marketing analytics. Former students credited his instruction with helping them secure jobs and promotions, noting his ability to make complex subjects understandable and his dedication to mentoring PhD students.
