Georgian man admits shooting Greek priest in France: ‘revenge over love affair’
- The 40-year-old, originally from Georgia ‘turns out to be the husband of a woman who was having an affair with the victim’
- Nikolaos Kakavelakis, 52, was shot twice in the chest but emerged from a coma and was able to tell police who had fired
A suspect has admitted to shooting a Greek Orthodox priest in Lyon last month, in what appears to be revenge for a love affair, the prosecutor’s office said on Saturday.
The 40-year-old man who is originally from Georgia according to the daily newspaper Le Parisien, “turns out to be the husband of a woman who was having an affair with the victim,” a statement issued by the office said.
The suspect was taken into custody on Friday following his arrest at home in the central French city, the newspaper added.
Nikolaos Kakavelakis, 52, was shot twice in the chest at point-blank range on October 31 but emerged from a coma on Wednesday and was able to tell investigators who had fired.
The priest had announced his resignation a month earlier.
He was shot two days after a terror attack at a church in Nice, southern France, briefly raising fears he had been the victim of another such attack, before investigators said they were treating the case as a criminal affair.