The best friend of a mum of three whose mystery death in Crete is the subject of a new murder probe has told how he fears being made a suspect for the second time.
Peter Verschueren says his life was turned upside down during the original investigation following the discovery of 53-year-old Jean Hanlon’s body in the Aegean Sea 10 years ago.
Greek detectives established the Belgian was the last person Jean contacted before her death.
His relationship with the bar worker was the focus of their inquiry before it hit a dead end. Now Peter fears officers will target him again after getting a breakthrough in the case.
The new probe was ordered following a TV documentary about the unsolved death.
Dumfries-born Jean left Scotland to start a new life abroad in 2005.
She spoke to Peter on the phone and sent him a desperate text message which said “help” hours before she vanished in Heraklion in March 2009.
Landscaper Peter, 56, who still lives on the holiday island, said: “It was a very bad situation.
“I spoke with her and then she was missing, I got the blame. I hope I’m not a suspect again. It’s horrible being accused when it was such a good friend.
“It was a very bad time being accused.
“I just want that all to be behind me, all to be the end. I don’t want to be blamed again.”
Police initially wrote off Jean’s death as an accidental drowning but a coroner’s report found she suffered injuries consistent with a struggle which included shattered ribs, a punctured lung and facial wounds.
The police investigation was shut down but now the case will be re-examined following a campaign by Jean’s family and a Channel 5 documentary called Murdered in Paradise: The Killing of Jean Hanlon. It retraced her steps the day before she went missing.
The show revealed she met a fellow expat who later told police Jean claimed a car had been following her.
She had a job interview at a taverna and spent the evening with a Greek man in a city cafe where she called Peter.
He told officers that his friend sounded “drugged” during the conversation.
Phone records show an hour later Jean sent Peter a one-word text saying “help”.
In an interview with the Sunday Mail, he said it was possible Jean might not have been drugged but was drunk.
Peter, who insists he does not know the identity of Jean’s companion that night, said: “She said she was out in Heraklion.
“I don’t remember her telling me why she was out or how she got there.
“She had drank wine and was a little bit tipsy but she was okay.
“Jean said she was with a man and that she was in the marina. She sounded happy. She phoned again and this time she sounded really drunk. Maybe it was drugs, maybe she slept somewhere, maybe the man put some drugs in her cocktail – I don’t know. You never know what happened to her.
“Jean didn’t speak Greek, she only spoke English so I don’t know how she had a conversation with the man.”
Peter added: “He spoke to me on the phone in Greek, he was a Greek man.
“We didn’t talk about anything in particular, nothing important. He didn’t sound drunk.”
Peter, who is known to Jean’s three sons, was asked by police to identify Jean’s body after it was found floating in Heraklion Port. He revealed: “After a few days they found a body. It was a very bad day. You go in to shock.
“I couldn’t recognise her for the first time when I went to identify her.
“She was all swollen and you have to be 100 per cent sure because there are so many tourists here.
“The clothes were very similar and it was so horrible. I’ll never forget that day. I didn’t expect it to be her, I didn’t want it to be her.
“We met around 2005 in a bar where we danced and became friends. We were really close. I miss her.
“I don’t know what happened. I’m happy the case has been reopened.
“I don’t know why no one knows what happened to her after all these years.
“It is very important for the family this case is investigated and they find out the circumstances.
“I was thinking a few months ago how her sons cope when they don’t know what happened to their mother.
“It must be very difficult –they must be happy the case is open again and hopefully they will get answers.
“Maybe they will find out it was murder or maybe it was an accident and Jean was alone and fell into the sea.
“If they find somebody responsible and can close the case, that will be good. If they can prove what happened, that will be better.”
The case was reopened in 2016 after fresh evidence emerged but no arrests were made and it was closed down last year.
Jean’s son Michael Porter, who lives in London, described the case being investigated for a third time as “phenomenal”.
He added: “These new findings are being investigated by the prosecutor.
“It’s going to take a lot of determination, hard work and planning to make sure the case stays open until every question is answered.
“That said, this is a massive step in the right direction. Since the documentary, we have been bombarded by messages of support and people offering bits of information.
“A certain piece of information has triggered the lawyer, a piece of information that tied in with an old suspicion but more detailed, and he has gone to the prosecutor with this.
“The fact the documentary brought forward new information just gives you hope that no matter how long the passage of time, people might still be holding on to things or maybe allegiances have changed or friendships have changed and people can speak a bit more now.”
Michael, who will travel to Heraklion next month to mark the 10th anniversary of Jean’s death, said his family wanted to “re-establish” a connection with Peter. He said: “Peter is very friendly and I spoke with him on the phone a few times when I called mum.
“He was released so we have to believe his story is right.
“We are trying to rebuild a connection with Peter which is difficult, he’s been upset and hurt a lot.
“He’s been accused of murdering his best friend and I think he feels like we’re blaming him so we need to re-establish that connection.
“He helped us out quite a lot. He drove us around mapping out mum’s day. There are still questions, though.
“The conversation he had with the man mum was with.
“No one knows who this man is, we need to identify him.
“Why has this man not come forward? We need to know this.”
