How can Greek police simply file away our mum’s brutal killing?
Family hits out as case ‘archived’ ten years after expat found f loating in holiday isle’s harbour
AFTER devoting two decades to raising her sons, Jean Hanlon moved to Crete in search of sunshine and contentment in her later years.
Yet this bold new chapter was cut tragically short when the lifeless body of the mother of three was found floating in a harbour on the Greek island.
An initial report by the local coroner concluded that the 53-year-old divorcée from Dumfries had ‘accidentally’ drowned – but her family, who said she hated the water, suspected foul play.
They fought for a second postmortem investigation, which brought the news they suspected but feared the most: Miss Hanlon had injuries consistent with a struggle and died from a broken neck before she entered the sea.
For almost ten years, Robert, David and Michael Porter have longed for the day the mystery of their mother’s death would finally be solved.
The brothers have spent thousands of pounds on legal fees and campaigned tirelessly – with very little help, they say, from British authorities – yet no one has faced justice.
Despite all the unanswered questions, Greek officials announced last week they were to ‘archive’ the investigation. This means no new inquiries will be carried out unless new evidence is brought forward. ‘We are devastated,’ Miss Hanlon’s youngest son, Michael, 33, told the Scottish Mail on Sunday last night. ‘To us that is the same as closing the case. How will any new evidence come to light without an investigation?
‘While we are fighting to find out what happened to her, it feels like we are keeping our mum alive. Losing that would be like losing her all over again.
‘My mum was my life and gave me my life. I can’t just allow her death to remain a mystery. She did not bring me up to give up. Someone knows what happened to her.’
The family intend to hire a new lawyer and push to reactivate the case.
They also want to make their first live appeal for information on Greek TV. In particular, they hope to trace a man seen with Miss Hanlon in a café in Heraklion, the Crete capital, on March 9, 2009 – the last time she was seen alive.
On the morning of her disappearance, Miss Hanlon wrote in her diary for the very last time: ‘Was wakened in the night by thunder. Up at eight. Got bed changed and the washing done.’
It was an unremarkable entry for what should have been a regular day in Kato Gouves, the tourist spot where she had set up home.
The popular seaside village – 30 minutes from Heraklion – boasts a pretty promenade packed with traditional tavernas and a long stretch of golden sand that attracts holidaymakers from across Europe in the summer months. In the winter, however, most of the bars and hotels shut down for the season and tourists are scarce.
The winter of 2008 was the first Miss Hanlon had spent in Crete. A former hospital secretary at Dumfries Royal Infirmary, she had moved to the island in 2005 after her marriage broke down but usually came home to Scotland in the winter months.
‘She was really settling in to life over there. She had a nice little apartment and had made friends,’ Mr Porter said.
‘Obviously she missed home and her grandkids but she was happy over there. She didn’t go out there looking for love, as some people have suggested. She went to experience something new and get some sunshine.
‘She had an interview for a local waitressing job for the summer season on the last day she was seen and would have been riding high that she got it – jobs like that are gold dust.
‘We know she was due to look after the child of a friend the day after she was last seen. She was a loyal person and would never renege on a commitment like that to a friend.’
Mr Porter last spoke to his mother on March 6, 2009, three days before she vanished. ‘There was nothing wrong,’ he said. ‘It was just a normal conversation.’
Miss Hanlon left her apartment on Monday, March 9, after her diary entry, then walked through town and went to a café to meet a Scottish woman she knew for coffee.
During the conversation, she remarked that a car had been following her but she did not seem distressed.
She then headed down to the waterfront for the interview at Blue Sky Taverna. The owner, who offered her the job, said that although Miss Hanlon departed happy, she left abruptly without finishing her drink. From here, the timeline becomes less clear.
Evidence at Miss Hanlon’s apartment, including a pile of worn clothes and an ironing board, suggest that she returned home and changed. Urine splashes found on the toilet led her sons to believe a man had been in her home.
That evening, a Belgian friend in Kato Gouves named Peter called her mobile phone. He claims she told him she was in the Marina Café bar near the port in Heraklion with a man she did not know. She said he did not speak any English and that he was a bore.
Peter said she sounded drugged, and was speaking a lot faster than normal.
Miss Hanlon passed the phone to the man and Peter had a brief chat with him. The man did not give a name but said he was from Kato Gouves.
An hour later Miss Hanlon sent Peter a one-word text, saying ‘HELP’. He did not reply – although the reasons for that are unclear. It was the last anyone
‘It feels like we are keeping our mum alive’
heard of her. By the time her body was discovered floating in the water in Heraklion port four days later, her sons had arrived in Crete to help the search for her.
Greek police stated that Miss Hanlon had drowned, but having seen their mother for themselves, her sons were convinced this was not the case. They were right.
‘My mum hated the water so the chance of her going for a midnight swim was nil,’ Mr Porter said. ‘She had been in the water for some time but we knew something wasn’t right when we saw her injuries.’
A secondary postmortem showed Miss Hanlon had died from a broken neck as a result of a blow to the head, and had extensive injuries including shattered ribs, a punctured lung and head and neck wounds consistent with a struggle.
There was little water in her lungs – meaning she was dead before she entered the water. There are other leads the family feel Greek police have done little to investigate.
The family discovered that in her final months, Miss Hanlon had become involved with a local Greek man known only as Nikos.
She revealed the breakdown of the relationship just a week before she disappeared.
Police interviewed him but despite having no alibi for the night Miss Hanlon went missing, he has never been named as a suspect. A year after her death, the police did name two suspects, a Belgian and a Greek who had been her friends. Mr Porter was told there were ‘inaccuracies’ in their statements.
The Greek friend claimed the last time he had spoken to Miss Hanlon was a week before, despite phone records showing he had spoken to her on the night she vanished.
He also told police he had been with another friend that night, only for police to discover that he had not been. Miss Hanlon’s diary told of trips to Heraklion on the back of his motorbike and how scared she had been because of his speed.
Mr Porter now wonders if perhaps there had been an accident and a cover-up. The family have also struggled to get to the bottom of the story from Peter about the phone call and the mystery man who spoke no English.
‘We will not be able to grieve until we have answers,’ said Mr Porter.