Neurobiological Insights into the Mind of a Cold-Blooded Criminal: A Detailed Brain Analysis

One of the most horrific crimes in the history of Greece. For the way it was committed, for the hidden backstory, and for the long-term consequences it had. A dark case that shocked all of Greece. The older generation remembers it with the title “The Tiger of Pagrati.” That’s how the press had coded it. In an era where there was neither internet nor private television…

Saturday, November 6, 1982. Police officer Christos Kolitsopoulos, his wife Katia, and their 4-year-old son Alexandros return to their home on Alketa Street in Pagrati. They had just visited the parents of the husband. The 22-year-old woman tells her husband she first wants to stop by the betting shop to place a PRO-PO ticket and to buy cigarettes and milk she had forgotten. “Go upstairs with the child, and I’ll come later to join you,” she reportedly said. Only that “later” never came.

As soon as the policeman arrived home, after unlocking the door and leaving the bags he was carrying, he saw the unexpected, the practically last image of his life. A man with a knife delivered fatal blows to him, all in front of his little son’s frozen eyes, full of terror and shock.

Who was this man, and why did he do what he did? The truth would soon be revealed and would hit everyone with great force. The perpetrator was Giannis Sgouridis, the lover of the policeman’s wife. The two of them worked together at a hotel and had an affair. And as the murderer would later claim, he killed the policeman because she asked him to do it. So that they could be free to stay together.

However, things would get even more complicated. Katia Kolitsopoulou would adamantly deny having instructed him to kill her husband. In fact, she would claim she knew nothing of his intentions, or else she would have done everything to stop him.

The policeman did not die immediately after Sgouridis’ attack. He managed to knock on a neighbor’s door, bloodied, asking for help, asking them to run and inform his wife. The neighbor then took little Alexandros to find his mother at the kiosk. The child fell into her arms, and according to witnesses, this is when her performance began—crying, howling, and shouting.

Initially, the authorities investigated the possibility of robbery, as the house was turned upside down, and money and jewelry were missing. It soon became clear there were no real signs of forced entry. It was all staged. The perpetrator had entered the house with keys given to him by Katia—she would later claim she gave them “as a joke.”

Sgouridis had tried to mislead the police, steering them toward the possibility of robbery, but a fingerprint found in the elevator gave him away. It’s worth mentioning that one of the first to suspect something was wrong with this story was journalist Angeliki Nikolouli, who, as a budding reporter, conducted on-site investigations, spoke with the victim’s wife and the authorities, and realized something was amiss. In the newspaper, the story she signed the next day left subtle but clear hints…

Initially, the 24-year-old Sgouridis wasn’t sure whether he had killed his lover’s husband or not. As mentioned, the policeman hadn’t died immediately. After the crime, the perpetrator ran to his mother’s house in Ano Loutsa, where the police found him. He surrendered without resistance and soon “broke.” He confessed to the crime. At first, he took full responsibility. However, he changed his stance when he saw Katia Kolitsopoulou pinning everything on him. Feeling betrayed, he modified his story and implicated her as the instigator of the murder.

The trial was intense, with episodes, tensions, and even the intervention of a minister. The press of the time had found a major story, and reports about the “satanic couple,” as they were called, caused a frenzy. Katia Kolitsopoulou was primarily referred to as “The Tiger of Pagrati,” while terms like “maenad” and “bacchante” were also used. Her attitude divided public opinion. For half the people, she was innocent; for the other half, guilty. Outside the court, feminist organizations held rallies in her defense.

“What mother would send her child to witness the murder of his own father?” she would say in court. However, this did not convince the jury of her innocence. She was sentenced to life imprisonment, as was Sgouridis. The court also prohibited Kolitsopoulou from seeing her son again: “The mother who completely and irreparably destroyed her child’s psychological world to satisfy her erotic passion has no right to invoke feelings in her relationship with her child,” reads the ruling.

Both were released from prison after 17 years for good behavior. Sgouridis had been a model prisoner and worked as an electrician in the prison, which was his profession. “Kolitsopoulou was looking for an alibi to get rid of her husband, and she found it in my passion. I was the weapon she used, and when she no longer needed it, she discarded it. She felt nothing for me. Essentially, she threatened to break up with me if I didn’t do it. Blinded by my passion, I did it. I later realized it was all part of a plan,” he said years later.

As for Kolitsopoulou, she was initially rebellious in prison. Over time, however, she realized this wasn’t a wise approach. She integrated into the system and eventually became a compliant inmate. She studied law by correspondence and wrote poems. Did she have contact with her son all these years? No. The court had forbidden it, and she stopped pursuing it herself.

That’s why this isn’t the most dramatic part of the story. This crime, in reality, didn’t have just one victim. Alexandros never got over the trauma of witnessing his father being murdered before his eyes, much less because it was due to his mother. This internal conflict was something he could never overcome.

On October 2, 2009, Alexandros Kolitsopoulos, then 31, had gone to vote in the national elections in the Arcadia region, his father’s birthplace. He disappeared in front of his aunt, who had become like a mother to him. Angeliki Nikolouli searched for him in vain through her TV show, “Light in the Tunnel.” The videos that followed reveal much—about the past, about the aftermath, about how an innocent child’s psychological state was destroyed, about his feelings, and the pain that never stopped consuming him. While no body was ever found, it is believed that Alexandros took his own life. Some said he had already been dead since November 6, 1982…

Analysis of the Brain Function of the Person Who Designed This Crime:

The person behind this crime (primarily, Katia Kolitsopoulou, if her involvement as an instigator is accepted) likely exhibited traits of psychopathy or narcissism. These individuals can manipulate others for personal gain, showing little to no empathy, as indicated by the ability to plan a murder with the involvement of a child. There may have been a lack of emotional regulation and remorse, traits often associated with antisocial personality disorders. Furthermore, this plan’s complexity suggests cognitive skills involved in manipulating others and suppressing one’s fear of consequences.

The extreme emotional detachment, combined with the ability to maintain appearances (as seen in her theatrical behavior after the crime), indicates high cognitive control but poor emotional and moral decision-making. The brain regions potentially involved would include the prefrontal cortex (for planning and decision-making) and the amygdala (which, when dysfunctional, can lead to diminished fear and empathy).

Analyzing the brain function of a person capable of designing and carrying out such a premeditated and manipulative crime involves considering the interplay of several neural systems, particularly those involved in emotion, decision-making, and social behavior. Here’s a more detailed look at the potential neurobiological mechanisms at play:

1. Prefrontal Cortex (PFC)

The prefrontal cortex is responsible for executive functions, which include planning, reasoning, and impulse control. In someone capable of orchestrating a crime like this, the PFC is likely functioning in a highly organized manner in terms of planning and strategy. This is evident in how the crime was executed, from giving keys to the murderer to setting up an elaborate scenario to mislead the police.
However, in individuals with psychopathic or antisocial tendencies, there can be a reduction in the activity of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), which is involved in empathy, guilt, and moral reasoning. This may allow the person to plan and execute the crime without the normal emotional consequences or moral hesitations that would stop most people.

2. Amygdala

The amygdala plays a crucial role in processing emotions such as fear, anger, and empathy. In individuals who lack remorse and can commit violent acts, the amygdala may be underactive or show reduced connectivity to other brain regions, especially the PFC. This could explain a diminished emotional response to the idea of causing harm to others, such as orchestrating the murder of a spouse or exposing one’s child to a traumatic event.
Studies on psychopaths have shown that they often have reduced amygdala volume and hypoactivity in response to emotional stimuli, meaning they may not feel the same level of fear or empathy as neurotypical individuals.

3. Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC)

The orbitofrontal cortex, a part of the PFC, is involved in decision-making, especially in weighing the consequences of actions. Individuals with dysfunction in this area may fail to adequately assess the long-term consequences of their behavior, leading to risky, impulsive, or immoral decisions.
In this case, the decision to murder a spouse (and the failure to account for how this might affect a child or the inevitable investigation) might indicate a malfunction or underactivity in the OFC, leading to poor judgment of long-term outcomes and consequences.

4. Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC)

The anterior cingulate cortex is implicated in error detection, conflict resolution, and emotional regulation. If the ACC is not functioning properly, individuals may fail to recognize moral conflicts or experience emotional discomfort when engaging in harmful behaviors.
In someone like Katia Kolitsopoulou (if she was indeed the instigator), the failure to emotionally react to the harm done to her husband and child might indicate dysfunction in this region. The ACC, when impaired, could result in a lack of emotional distress or regret, allowing such a crime to be carried out without internal resistance.

5. Limbic System (Emotional Processing)

The limbic system, which includes structures like the amygdala, hippocampus, and hypothalamus, is responsible for emotional regulation and memory. While the amygdala processes immediate emotional responses, the hippocampus is involved in contextualizing emotions, especially in relation to personal experiences.
A breakdown in the connections between the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex could explain why someone might be able to engage in cold-blooded, premeditated actions without emotional interference. For instance, being emotionally detached from the consequences of the crime (e.g., the trauma inflicted on the child) may indicate limbic dysfunction or reduced connectivity with higher-order cognitive regions.

6. Reward System (Dopaminergic Pathways)

Crimes involving passion or the desire to remove an obstacle (e.g., a spouse) can sometimes be driven by dysregulation in the dopaminergic reward system, which involves brain areas like the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and nucleus accumbens.
In this case, the individual might be acting to achieve personal gain (i.e., the removal of the husband to be with the lover), with the brain’s reward pathways reinforcing the behavior. The decision to engage in such behavior might stem from a hyperactive reward system, which prioritizes immediate pleasure or escape over long-term consequences.
This hyperactivation can lead to impulsive, reckless behavior, and the perception that the reward (being with the lover) outweighs any moral or legal consequences.

7. Empathy and Theory of Mind (Mentalizing Networks)

Theory of Mind refers to our ability to understand and predict the thoughts and feelings of others. Brain regions involved in this process include the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ), medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC).
In people capable of orchestrating such crimes, their empathy networks (largely connected to these regions) may be underdeveloped or impaired. They may lack the ability to consider the pain and suffering of others—especially their victims—or may compartmentalize these thoughts, allowing them to act without remorse.
Additionally, individuals with psychopathic tendencies can sometimes exhibit a “cognitive” form of empathy, where they understand what others are feeling but use this knowledge manipulatively, rather than feeling genuine compassion.

8. Emotional Memory and Conditioning (Hippocampus and Amygdala)

The hippocampus, in conjunction with the amygdala, is involved in emotional memory. A person who orchestrates a crime like this might have altered emotional conditioning, possibly through early life experiences that desensitized them to violence or reduced their capacity for emotional attachment.
If Katia Kolitsopoulou was involved in setting up the murder, it suggests that she was able to separate the emotional significance of her actions from the actual event, a phenomenon often associated with trauma or psychopathy, where emotional memory does not engage the same level of empathy as it would in a neurotypical individual.

Conclusion:

The brain of someone capable of orchestrating a crime of this nature may exhibit the following key dysfunctions:

Reduced empathy and moral reasoning due to underactivity in the amygdala and ventromedial prefrontal cortex.
Poor decision-making and lack of foresight resulting from dysfunction in the orbitofrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex.
Impaired emotional regulation, suggesting weak connections between the limbic system and the prefrontal cortex, enabling a cold and calculated execution of a violent act.
Altered reward processing and emotional conditioning, which may have contributed to the prioritization of personal gain over the well-being of others.

This kind of neurobiological profile is often associated with antisocial personality disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, or psychopathy, where deficits in empathy, emotional processing, and moral judgment allow individuals to commit heinous acts with little remorse or internal conflict.