Brazen squatters infiltrate house of murdered Bay Area professor, mourning family says
A University of California, Berkeley professor killed in a violent custody dispute in Greece has left behind grieving family members and 11-year-old twin children, while his relatives now face a separate battle in California to remove alleged squatters from his East Bay home.Przemyslaw Jeziorski was shot and killed in Greece in July during a custody dispute that turned deadly.Authorities say the boyfriend of Jeziorski’s ex-wife later confessed to the killing.
His ex-wife, Nadia Michelidaki, later died by suicide in a Greek prison in May.Back in the United States, Jeziorski’s former home in Berkeley, previously used as an Airbnb rental, has become the center of a heated legal fight.The family says the property is occupied by people who have refused to leave despite repeated eviction efforts.Court records show the occupants claim they signed a one-year lease with Michelidaki and paid $30,000 upfront.The family’s attorney, Erinne Stratte, disputes that account, saying Michelidaki was in custody at the time the lease was allegedly signed.Berkeley police were first called to the property in December after reports of a break-in and possible squatting.Officers later encountered a woman who insisted she had a valid lease.Since then, the occupants have remained in the home despite eviction notices and ongoing court proceedings.NBC Bay Area reporters who visited the property received no response at the door.The phone number listed in court documents has been disconnected.The family also alleges that belongings from the home have been seen being sold at yard sales, though those claims have not been independently verified.At the center of the dispute is California law, which in many cases treats long-term occupants as civil tenants rather than immediate trespassers once they remain in a property for an extended period, often around 30 days.That shift can move disputes out of the criminal system and into civil eviction court, which can take months and require extensive l...