Forty-nine minutes have emerged as one of the most troubling elements in the investigation into the death of Giorgos Mazonakis.
At 3.22 pm, digital records recovered from the plasmapheresis machine being used on the Greek singer show that the procedure stopped after another alarm was triggered. At 4.11 pm, according to the machine-based chronology now before investigators, emergency assistance was called. What happened between those two moments has become central to a case that is increasingly being reconstructed not through memory, but through timestamps, machine data, photographs, phone records and forensic evidence.
Mazonakis, 54, died on 9 September after suffering cardiac arrest while undergoing plasmapheresis at a private medical practice in Kolonaki. The two doctors involved, a married couple, have since been remanded in custody and face a charge of homicide with possible intent by omission. Both deny the charge and no criminal liability has been determined.
The investigation has moved rapidly since his death. Digital specialists have recovered the operating history of the plasmapheresis machine, along with material that had been deleted from a doctor’s mobile phone. Investigators are examining whether appropriate medical checks were carried out beforehand, what the machine’s repeated alarms signified, whether any substances were administered, when Mazonakis went into cardiac arrest and why emergency services were not contacted earlier.
These are the eight questions now at the centre of the case.
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What happened when the machine alarms began?
The most precise account of Mazonakis’ final hours has come from the machine itself.
According to the digital chronology reported by ERT, the plasmapheresis machine was switched on at 2.14 pm. At 2.25 pm it registered a double alarm, reportedly indicating increased pressure and signs associated with clotting. Despite that warning, the blood-exchange procedure began at 2.37 pm.
Between 3.22 pm and 3.27 pm, another alarm was registered and the machine stopped transferring blood. A third alarm followed at 3.45 pm, reportedly indicating the absence of a heartbeat.
The original reporting on the case identifies the meaning of these alarms, and the medical response to them, as one of the central unresolved issues.
The importance of those warnings has only grown. According to ERT, the judicial reasoning behind the doctors’ provisional detention alleges that repeated alerts from the machine were not acted upon appropriately and that the medical procedure continued despite indications that Mazonakis’ condition was deteriorating. The doctors dispute the prosecution case.
What investigators must now establish is not simply when an alarm sounded, but what each warning meant clinically and what was done in response.
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What condition was Mazonakis in at 3.22 pm?
The period beginning at approximately 3.22 pm is particularly significant because this is when the machine stopped transferring blood.
One of the central questions is whether Mazonakis had already suffered cardiac arrest at that point, whether he was experiencing another serious complication, or whether his condition deteriorated afterwards. The distinction could be crucial in determining how much time elapsed between the first clear indication of a medical emergency and the attempt to obtain specialist help.
The doctors have reportedly maintained that the cardiac arrest occurred shortly after 4 pm, an account investigators are comparing with the machine’s digital history and other evidence. During questioning, the female doctor reportedly argued that the alarms related to problems with blood vessels rather than the onset of cardiac arrest.
The evidence does not yet provide a settled public answer to the fundamental question: when, precisely, did Mazonakis’ medical emergency become life-threatening?
That answer may prove critical to everything that follows.
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Why did it take 49 minutes to call emergency services?
This is perhaps the most consequential question in the investigation.
The machine chronology places the interruption of treatment at 3.22 pm and records the call to Greece’s emergency medical service, EKAB, at 4.11 pm, a gap of 49 minutes. The original reporting asks what happened during that period, when the seriousness of Mazonakis’ condition was recognised, what attempts were made to resuscitate him and why outside assistance was not requested sooner.
There is, however, a discrepancy in the publicly reported timeline that remains worth noting. Separate ERT reporting, citing the clinic secretary’s testimony, states that an alarm was heard at 3.23 pm and that a call to Greece’s 166 emergency number was made at 4.23 pm, with the ambulance arriving three minutes later.
The 49-minute figure derives from the digital machine chronology and has featured prominently in the investigation. The differing timestamps are another reason the final reconstruction of events matters.
According to ERT, the judicial reasoning supporting the doctors’ provisional detention places particular emphasis on the delay in seeking specialised emergency assistance. The president of the EKAB workers’ union has said the ambulance crew arrived within three minutes of receiving the call and found Mazonakis already in cardiac arrest.
The doctors have disputed aspects of the emergency response and maintain that they attempted to save him.
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Why was the machine restarted?
Another detail recovered from the machine is the apparent attempt to restart it after the treatment had been interrupted.
According to the digital record reported by ERT, following the alarm between 3.22 pm and 3.27 pm, the machine ceased transferring blood. At 3.45 pm, another warning reportedly indicated there was no cardiac pulse. A restart was then attempted, but lasted only fractions of a second.
Why the machine was restarted is now part of the investigation.
The question cannot be separated from Mazonakis’ condition at that moment. If he was already in cardiac arrest, investigators will need to understand the clinical reasoning behind attempting to resume the procedure. If he was not, the sequence could help establish precisely when his condition became critical.
The machine has, in effect, become a silent witness. Its digital history does not explain decisions, but it does provide a sequence against which those decisions can be tested.
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What do the photographs taken inside the clinic show?
At 2.43 pm and again approximately two minutes later, photographs were reportedly taken of Mazonakis during the procedure. A video was also recovered.
In the images, according to ERT, Mazonakis appears lying down with his eyes closed. Police investigators subsequently recovered the photographs and video from the doctor’s phone after they had been deleted later that evening.
The images have inevitably attracted considerable attention, but they cannot by themselves establish Mazonakis’ medical condition. That assessment belongs to forensic and medical experts, who can examine the photographs alongside the machine data, laboratory findings and witness statements.
Their value may instead lie in fixing another point in time.
At 2.43 pm, what did Mazonakis look like? Was he conscious? Was his condition changing? What happened between the taking of those photographs and the serious alarms that followed?
The original material describes the photographs as part of the chronology authorities are now trying to reconstruct.
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Were the necessary medical checks carried out beforehand?
The investigation is also looking backwards, to what happened before Mazonakis was connected to the machine at all.
Plasmapheresis is an established medical procedure in which plasma is separated from the blood and removed or exchanged. But its use requires medical assessment and monitoring, and the circumstances in which the procedure was performed on Mazonakis have become a major part of the criminal investigation.
Authorities are examining what pre-treatment screening was undertaken, including whether appropriate cardiological checks had been completed and what information the doctors had about his health before the procedure began. The material initially reported on the case also states that investigators were examining whether required electrocardiograms could be found among records relating to patients who underwent similar treatments at the practice.
The judicial reasoning reported by ERT goes further, alleging that medical procedures were being carried out in premises without the necessary licensing and equipment and without appropriate prior medical examinations. These remain allegations being considered through the judicial process.
Investigators are also examining whether any medication, anaesthetic, sedative or other substance was administered before or during the procedure. Filters seized from the plasmapheresis machine are reportedly undergoing laboratory analysis for possible traces.
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What will the tests reveal about the exact cause of death?
For all the attention surrounding alarms, photographs and phone calls, some of the most important answers may ultimately come from the laboratory.
Mazonakis suffered cardiac arrest, but establishing the precise chain of events that caused his heart to stop is a different question.
Investigators are seeking to reconcile the machine data with forensic findings, laboratory analysis, witness testimony and digital evidence. They are examining whether a complication arose during the procedure, whether another substance played a role, and whether an earlier or different intervention could have changed the outcome.
The seized filters from the plasmapheresis machine are considered particularly important because they may retain traces of substances administered during the procedure. Authorities are also continuing to analyse electronic evidence and telephone records in an effort to close gaps in the chronology.
Until those findings are complete, assigning a precise medical cause beyond the reported cardiac arrest would be premature.
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Why was a photograph sent to the hypnotherapist?
The strangest element of the case may also prove useful in reconstructing Mazonakis’ final afternoon.
Nasos Komianos, who describes himself as a hypnotherapist, had reportedly met Mazonakis two days before his death and was due to see him again after the plasmapheresis session. According to the original reporting, Mazonakis intended to travel to Kifissia after leaving the clinic, with the planned appointment supported by messages and the account of the taxi driver who had transported him.
One of the photographs taken of Mazonakis during the treatment was subsequently sent to a third person. The female doctor later reportedly identified the recipient as a hypnotherapist from Athens’ northern suburbs. ERT reports that the recipient has been called to appear before the investigating magistrate. He is not accused in Mazonakis’ death.
Why the photograph was sent remains important.
Was it simply connected with the appointment Mazonakis was expected to attend later that afternoon? What was said about his condition at the time? And what does the communication reveal about how those inside the clinic understood his state?
The answers may not establish what medically caused his death, but they could help establish what was known, and when.
For investigators, that chronology is now everything.
Mazonakis had spent 33 years as one of the most recognisable figures in Greek popular music, turning a distinctive laïko voice, an instinct for performance and an unconventional public image into a career that stretched well beyond the nightclub circuit. On 20 September, just 11 days after his death, he had been due to perform at Technopolis in Athens in a concert titled 33 Years from A to Z, conceived as a retrospective of that career.
Instead, the public account of his final days has narrowed to a matter of minutes.
The machine began operating at 2.14 pm. The first alarms followed. Photographs were taken. Treatment stopped. Another alarm sounded. A restart was attempted. Eventually, emergency services were called.
The doctors have given their account. Investigators now have to measure it against the digital record, the medical evidence and the testimony of those who were there.
Until that work is complete, the eight questions remain what they are: unanswered.
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