Son of Sam called, he wants his M.O. back

I read with horror a story about a couple who were shot while eating at a pizzeria in a Thessaloniki neighborhood recently. I had heard about another incident in the same neighborhood, only this time the couple were shot while sitting in their car at a drive-in cinema. The media hasn't been very forthcoming with details, and the police are insisting that the crimes are unrelated, which means one of two things: either they have enough information about one or both incidents to be certain they are unrelated, or they don't want people to think there might be a serial killer stalking a Thessaloniki neighborhood. Of course, I hope that the crimes are unrelated and the perpetrators are caught quickly, but it got me to thinking - can Greek law enforcement handle a serial killer case?

This is not to say I think the police here are incompetent. Sure, there have been a few big gaffes lately, but we all know how we only hear about the bad things and never about the good things. But as with most things in Greece, I am not sure if law enforcement has the funding in order to have the tools necessary to solve a major case. Let's face it - most crimes in Greece fall under the "passion" category, which pretty much means you gotta watch out for your family members because you just never know when they might turn on you. These crimes are often solved quickly, so the headache of meticulous crime solving is unnecessary. But a serial killer? That is a whole new ball game.

For now, I'll trust what the police have to say and assume there isn't a serial killer in our midst, but I do think we'll be avoiding that neighborhood for now.