Ex-wife of Berkeley professor Przemyslaw Jeziorski arrested in Greece after his shooting death
The ex-wife of University of California, Berkeley professor Przemyslaw Jeziorski, who was shot dead in Greece on July 4, is behind bars on suspicion that they arranged his murder.
Jeziorski, who taught at the Haas School of Business, was shot five times at point-blank range by a masked gunman who quickly made an escape in a waiting getaway car. At the time his death made headlines worldwide, his ex-wife Nadia Michelidaki said that she did not know of anyone who would want to hurt him.
The shooting occurred outside of her home as the professor came to visit his children. The other suspects have so far only been described as a Bulgarian man and two Albanian nationals.
Now, Michelidaki’s current partner has admitted to his part in the shooting, reports The San Francisco Chronicle.
Jeziorski and Michelidaki divorced in 2019 and have been embroiled in a custody dispute over their twins ever since. On July 3, the day before the shooting, the couple attended a custody hearing in an Athens court.
A total of five people are being questioned in relation to the killing, reports CNN. The network quotes a Greek police source as saying the shooting “bore signs of a contract killing.”
Michelidaki has maintained her innocence in the case, according to reports in the Greek media.
The couple met in Berkeley in 2015 and started an Airbnb-style business together before splitting in 2018. The divorce was not finalized until 2024. The finances of their business were reportedly also a source of contention between the pair.
The Chronicle reports that this past May, Jeziorski filed for a restraining order against his estranged wife.
The victim’s brother, Lukasz Jeziorski, wrote on the crowdfunding page, WhyDonate: “He was the victim of a terrible crime, and the perpetrator is still at large.
“Our family is heartbroken, and we are doing everything we can to ensure that justice is served. Przemek was a loving father to two young children and a beloved professor at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.
“He was a leading scholar in marketing science, industrial organization, and data analytics. He loved teaching and sharing his passion for the intricacies of marketing analytics and marketing science with his students.”
A friend of Jeziorski described the couple’s relationship as “not very cordial” in an interview with NBC Los Angeles.
Another friend, Robert Kowalski, told The Chronicle that he witnessed Michelidaki physically assault Jeziorski during a 2024 trip to the Greek capital.
“When we talked a few months ago, he said he was afraid of going to Athens and getting beaten up again,” he added. Kowalski also accused Michelidaki of not making contact with the family of her children’s father after the shooting, something he describes as “very weird behavior.”
Chemtai Mungo described the last conversation he had with Jeziorski to the station, saying he “Expressed some frustration at the process and I encouraged him to stay positive and always remember that the kids really love him and he was very stoic,” he said.
Jeziorski joined the Haas faculty as an assistant professor of marketing in 2012, following studies at the SGH Warsaw School of Economics, the University of Arizona, the University of Chicago, and Stanford University.
His research focused on quantitative marketing, industrial organization, antitrust and regulation, digital marketing, and financial technology, according to Haas’s website.
