Sounak Sengupta
Investigation Discovery’s ‘Deadly Sins: No Forgiveness: Model Behavior’ narrates two horrific crimes, one of which revolves around the gruesome murder of a 31-year-old spring model, Julie Scully, in Greece in January 1999. The horrific manner in which she was murdered and her remains disposed of seem like stuff straight out of the movies.
How Did Julie Scully Die?
Julie Marie Scully was born to Julia Scully on January 3, 1968, in Philadelphia in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. Her friend, Cheryl Chuplis-Hood, reminisced, “Julie was a beautiful, outgoing, energetic, would-give-you-her-heart type of girl.” She was an aspiring model with a charisma that would bring “a party to its life.” In the early 1990s, a bikini-clad Julie was frequently featured in the “Page Six Girl” section of Trenton’s tabloid newspaper, ‘The Trentonian.’
Her tempestuous pictures became a major driving force to boost the paper’s dwindling circulation, and she was twice named ”Girl of the Year” by the owners. They even put up billboard advertisements with her photographs, making her somewhat of a local celebrity and landing her jobs in national beer brand promotions like Coors Light. One of her friends invited her to a yacht party in 1991, where she met millionaire Timothy “Tim” Nist, a 31-year-old landscaping contractor in Mansfield, New Jersey.
After a whirlwind romance, the two were married in the fall of 1991, and Julie gave birth to their daughter, Katie, in 1996. Hence, it came as a shock when she decided to divorce Tim and moved to Kavala, Greece, to live with her new fiance. After her family last heard from her on January 6, 1999, her fiance reported her missing to the Greek authorities four days later, on January 10. Her beheaded, burnt, naked body was found in a suitcase in the swamps of Northern Greece on January 26. She was strangled to death, and her skull was allegedly found around three years later.
Who Killed Julie Scully?
Julie and her former husband, Tim, were leading a blissful family life before they decided to go on a romantic Caribbean cruise vacation on November 1997. What was deemed a romantic getaway soon proved to be the catalyst of a journey that would not only break their marriage but would also lead to Julie’s murder. Aboard the cruise, Julie met petty officer George Skiadopoulos, who was smitten with her. After the conclusion of their holidays, the couple gave their number and address to George, hoping to keep in contact.
But George and Julie began a passionate correspondence over letters and calls, and their passion was fuelled more when she and Tim went on a second cruise vacation to meet George in February 1998. According to reports, Julie and George began an extramarital affair that continued for a few months. Less than ten months later, she decided to divorce Tim and move to Greece with her lover. She divorced Tim in November 1998 and received a reported $800,000 settlement.
According to the show, Julie wanted to take her daughter, Katie, to Kavala, Greece, with her. But Tim managed to retain full custody of her daughter, and Julie was too much in love and moved to Kavala on her own on December 6, 1998. The episode showed how she kept her entire divorce proceeding in a joint account with George, with the latter pressuring her to use her funds to start a taxi business. Her mother, Julia, claimed Julie started missing her young daughter within a month of moving and wanted to come back to America.
With George working long hours, Julie was also bored, and her Greek adventure seemed to be in the doldrums. Her family claimed they had not heard from her since January 6, 1999, and got increasingly worried. George filed a missing person report with the Kavala police on January 10, alleging he had a bitter argument with her a couple of days back, and she took off. Her disappearance was reported vastly in America, and immense pressure began mounting on the Greek authorities.
As George repeatedly went to the station and asked for updates, the police became suspicious of him. The victim’s family claimed George was “a jealous manipulator” who isolated Julie from her family. She allegedly used to call her relatives only when George was not at home. One of her buddies, Susan White, said, “It wasn’t Julie at the end. He pulled her away from a lot of her friends.” They also alleged George was behind Julie’s money from the beginning and had also been charged with assault after allegedly choking Julie during an argument last summer.
George Skiadopoulos Was Released After Eight Years
The police started scrutinizing George’s story, and many aspects of it started to not add up. After repeated rounds of intense interrogations, George broke down and admitted to Julie’s murder. He claimed Julie was leaving her as he was about to be drafted into the Greek army, and he strangled her in a car along a muddy farm road outside Kavala. He doused the body with gasoline and set it ablaze. He then put her remains in a suitcase and used a hacksaw to cut off her head so it would fit inside. He admitted to dumping the suitcase into a swamp.
According to reports, George drove to a rocky promontory, about ten kilometers west of Kavala, jutting into the Aegean Sea, and threw her head into the water. He reportedly transferred nearly $100,000 into a private account following the slaying. However, in his December 1999 trial, George, then 26, claimed it was a crime of passion, and he was not after Julie’s money.
The court found him guilty of premeditated murder, perjury, and giving false testimony in a written deposition. George was sentenced to life in prison without the chance of parole. He appealed to have his sentence reduced on grounds of insanity. However, there are no reports of the Greek court agreeing to his demand. George, now in his late 40s, only served eight years before being released. He is married and still lives in that small town in Greece.
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