By Erin Pearson
When Teresa Moraitis had her daughter’s body exhumed from its burial place, she said she never imagined she’d find her naked and missing her jewellery.
Helen Moraitis was also severely decomposed and not embalmed, despite her family paying for the service, Moraitis told a television crew. The man allegedly responsible was “an evil snake”, she said.
Teresa Moraitis and her nephew Jim Moraitis attend a hearing at the Supreme Court.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
“She was my rock and my strength,” Moraitis told A Current Affair.
The story of the Helen’s death and the alleged treatment of her remains by undertaker Peter Tziotzis has made its way to the Supreme Court of Victoria after the funeral director alleged media reporting of the matter had damaged his reputation.
During day one of the defamation trial, Tziotzis’s barrister, David Gilbertson, KC, said news stories aired on Channel Nine and published in The Age in 2022 and 2023 led to his client being approached inside a 7-Eleven store near a Springvale cemetery while he was between funerals.
Soon after, police raided his family home and his funeral parlour where items, including the clothing and jewellery Moraitis said she gave Tziotzis to bury her daughter in, were found in a drawer.
Funeral director Peter Tziotzis arrives at the Supreme Court on Monday.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
When the program aired, it showed reporter Sam Cucchiara asking Tziotzis if he was “Australia’s most evil funeral director”.
“Peter, have you done this before, taken anybody’s possessions?” Cucchiara asks.
This, Gilbertson told the court, was an insult to the profession of investigative journalism and caused his client serious harm.
The court heard that on June 27, 2022, 56-year-old Helen Moraitis died in her sleep. Her mother, then aged 81, engaged the services of Tziotzis and his company, Melbourne Orthodox Funeral Services, in Oakleigh, to carry out a traditional Greek Orthodox funeral and a trisagion, a viewing usually held the night before.
Lawyers for Nine, which owns this masthead, said the body was taken to the coroner for an autopsy before it was cleared for release on July 2.
However, they said, a contractor used by Tziotzis to transport bodies from the coroner’s office to Tziotzis’ funeral home did not collect Helen until July 18.
It was then another month before the funeral was held.
When it came time to farewell Helen, the court heard the Moraitis family were told the coffin had to be closed, at the direction of the coroner – something Tziotzis denies saying.
He also denies knowing a bag he was given contained jewellery and maintains he never looked inside the bag of clothing.
Helen Moraitis.Credit: A Current Affair
Gilbertson said his client maintains that when Helen’s remains arrived at his funeral parlour, they were already in such a poor state, they could not be moved.
His contracted embalmer said Helen arrived at the funeral home naked, her skin green and a strong smell was coming from the body, the court heard.
Gilbertson said his client maintains he attempted to contact Moraitis many times about the funeral and told her due to her daughter’s level of decomposition, the casket would need to remain closed during the two services.
The court heard A Current Affair interviewed Andres Tziotzis, the brother of the plaintiff and a rival funeral business owner, as well as an embalmer who told the news program the embalmer used by Tziotzis was her “main competitor”, Gilbertson said. These sources were conflicts of interest that should have raised red flags for the program, he said.
On Monday, Peter Tziotzis was in the witness box to describe the damage the news reports had allegedly had on his family and business, claiming his children were unable to go to school for three months.
He said the reports had left him feeling humiliated, disgusted and like a criminal.
“They accused me of foul play and of unprofessionalism. I was disgusted. A father of three children getting treated like that. What can I say?” he said.
“It was far from the truth. They destroyed the family.”
The jewellery provided to the funeral home to be buried with Helen Moraitis.
Breaking down in tears, he said he had also lost sponsorship deals and received death threats.
“You need to clear your name is the classic line I’d receive [from people cancelling sponsorships],” he said.
The court heard how a second family later appeared on a second episode of the news program, where Christine McMahon claimed she had a similarly poor experience with Tziotzis after her 16-year-old son Andrew Avraam died in a car crash.
The second episode also discussed Tziotzis’ past, the court heard, including his filing for bankruptcy in 2006, owing $90,000, and being convicted of stealing money from a real estate company in 2009.
The court heard that in November 2022, Moraitis had her daughter’s body exhumed because she feared it was not inside the casket, documenting the process with A Current Affair and an independent film company.
The court heard that inside the casket, Helen’s body was naked inside a blue body bag – rather than dressed in the clothing and jewellery provided by her family.
Gilbertson said his client had worked in the funeral business for nearly 20 years, first as an assistant before starting his own company in 2011 and employing five people. He said that before the media reports, Tziotzis had an excellent reputation for honesty and diligence in the running of his business.
Barrister Sandip Mukerjea, acting for Nine and The Age, said evidence during the trial would show that Tziotzis’ on-site cool room only had space for six bodies, despite holding up to 47 funerals – largely Greek Orthodox – a month.
Mukerjea said these traditional funerals allow mourners to say their final goodbyes to loved ones in open caskets.
“At the centre of this case are two grieving mothers who had to bury their children. Tziotzis or his agents refused to open caskets, denying grieving parents the opportunity to pay their final respects,” he said.
“We say evidence will demonstrate Peter Tziotzis’ handling of Helen Moraitis’ funeral fell well short of best practice, leading to her body becoming severely decomposed while in his custody and care.
“When Peter Tziotzis realised his negligence, he sought to conceal it by closing the casket and appropriating her clothing and jewellery.”
Mukerjea said one witness, Dean Macrae, will tell the court he transported bodies from the coroner to Tziotzis for eight years.
“He will say when delivered to the preparation room in the evenings, he would routinely find other bodies laying on trolleys or tables there, and the air conditioner in that room not always running at night when he delivered bodies there.”
The court also heard Tziotzis was not a member of the Australian Funeral Directors Association.
The trial is expected to hear from witnesses including the Moraitis family and former and current employees of Tziotzis.
The trial continues.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.