A Greek Australian mother has gone public about her suspicions that the professional she hired for her daughter’s funeral service stole jewellery and clothing from the corpse.
Following a report by channel Nine show A Current Affair which aired Monday, Melbourne-based funeral director Peter Tziotzis was interviewed by police and released pending further investigation.
The arrest came as police are investigating “the theft of jewellery in Oakleigh South that occurred sometime between July and November, 2022.”
“Investigators were told a quantity of jewellery was stolen at a business on Bunney Road.
“Detectives executed a search warrant at the business on Thursday and allegedly located the jewellery,” Victoria Police said.
Neos Kosmos contacted Victoria Police on Tuesday to enquire about the case and was told no charges had been laid and that the investigation was still ongoing.
Speaking to Neos Kosmos on Friday Peter Tziotzis said that “I did nothing wrong” and that “The Current Affairs story was incorrect and had no factual basis”. He also stated that “I have not been charged by the police.”
Speaking to A Current Affair, Teresa Moraitis, 82, described how the events unfolded leading to the accusations against Mr Tziotzis.
In August she paid the funeral director $10,200 for an open casket Greek Orthodox service with full embalming for her 56-year-old daughter, Helen.
“I wanted to see my daughter and all my relatives wanted to see, to say goodbye.
“I was screaming and crying,” Ms Moraitis said after telling A Current Affair that Mr Tziotzis had refused to open the casket at the church.
She accuses Mr Tziotzis of having lied when he told the family the casket had to remain shut because the “coroner had put a lock on it”.
The family claims when they contacted the coroner’s office the day after the service to ask about the reasoning behind the order they were told no such order existed.
Ms Moraitis said she had handed Mr Tziotzis a gold chain with a stone heart, two bracelets and a diamond ring to go in her daughter’s coffin and had chosen her daughter’s favourite outfit to be buried with.
But after the 82-year old mother decided to exhume her daughter’s body, Helen was found naked, her body zipped up in a blue body bag.
Clothing and the thousands of dollars worth of jewellery were missing, while a mortuary instrument was found dumped alongside the corpse.
Helen’s arm was twisted around her head instead of the traditional standard of having hands placed on the abdomen or the chest in a peaceful manner.
Ms Moraitis was present at the exhuming operation, along with her lawyer, three embalmers and A Current Affair’s tv crew whom she had invited.
Helen’s cousin, Jim Moraitis was tasked with viewing part of Helen’s body to identify her.
“We take more care wrapping our rubbish to put out in the rubbish bin,” he said.
Mortuary staff also told Ms Moraitis that no preparation was done on her daughter’s body despite her paying for a full embalming.
When confronted by A Current Affair reporter Sam Cucchiara and camera crew Mr Tziotzis denied allegations and deferred questions to the coroner “because they’re the ones that took her into their care”.
Speaking to Neos Kosmos Mr Tziotzis said that “I was not given the opportunity by Current Affairs to tell my side of the story. I was approached at a 7-11 store by their crew and I did not know what was going on. “I will tell my side of the story in due course through my legal representation team.”
A new funeral service was held for Helen Moraitis on Tuesday.
The police investigation into the case remains ongoing and anyone with any information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
*This story has been updated and was previously published under the headline “Greek funeral director under police investigation over missing jewellery in woman’s coffin”.
The police investigation into the case remains ongoing and anyone with any information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au