Yiannis Paraskakis, bottom right, who accused of the brutal killing of American biologist Suzanne Eaton in 2019, wearing a bulletproof vest that reads "Greek Police", sits in the court room on the first day of the trial in Rethymno, on the Greek island of Crete, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020. Paraskakis has been charged with the rape and murder of Eaton, 59, who disappeared on July 2, 2019, while attending a conference near Chania and whose body was found six days later in an abandoned underground storage site used during World War II. (AP Photo/Giannis Angelakis)
The Associated Press
ATHENS, Greece (AP) - A 28-year-old man was convicted in Greece on Tuesday of raping and murdering American scientist Suzanne Eaton, who was killed on the island of Crete while attending a conference last year.
A court in the Cretan town of Rethymno sentenced the man to life imprisonment.
Eaton, 59, disappeared on July 2, 2019, near the port city of Chania. Her body was found six days later in an abandoned underground storage site used during World War II.
Relatives said Eaton had gone for a hike when she was attacked.
The defendant, a Greek man from Crete, appeared in court wearing a bulletproof police vest. Greek media identified the man as Ioanis Paraskakis.
Eaton, from Armonk, New York, was based in Dresden, Germany, where she worked at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics.
Eaton's sister, Julie Broaddus Eaton, was present in court.
Yiannis Paraskakis, bottom right, who accused of the brutal killing of American biologist Suzanne Eaton in 2019, wearing a bulletproof vest that reads "Greek Police", sits in the court room on the first day of the trial in Rethymno, on the Greek island of Crete, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020. Paraskakis has been charged with the rape and murder of Eaton, 59, who disappeared on July 2, 2019, while attending a conference near Chania and whose body was found six days later in an abandoned underground storage site used during World War II. (AP Photo/Giannis Angelakis)
The Associated Press
Police check the court room before the trial of Yiannis Paraskakis who accused of the brutal killing of American biologist Suzanne Eaton in 2019, in Rethymno, on the Greek island of Crete, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020. Paraskakis has been charged with the rape and murder of Eaton, 59, who disappeared on July 2, 2019, while attending a conference near Chania and whose body was found six days later in an abandoned underground storage site used during World War II. (AP Photo/Giannis Angelakis)
The Associated Press
Julie Broaddus Eaton, center, sister of the American scientist Suzanne Eaton, who was raped and killed in Crete last year, stands outside the court room on the first day of the trial in Rethymno, on the Greek island of Crete, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020. Yiannis Paraskakis, 27, is accused of the brutal killing of American biologist Suzanne Eaton in 2019. Paraskakis has been charged with the rape and murder of Eaton, 59, who disappeared on July 2, 2019, while attending a conference near Chania and whose body was found six days later in an abandoned underground storage site used during World War II. (AP Photo/Giannis Angelakis)
The Associated Press
Julie Broaddus Eaton, center, sister of the American scientist Suzanne Eaton, who was raped and killed in Crete last year, stands outside the court room on the first day of the trial in Rethymno, on the Greek island of Crete, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020. Yiannis Paraskakis, 27, is accused of the brutal killing of American biologist Suzanne Eaton in 2019. Paraskakis has been charged with the rape and murder of Eaton, 59, who disappeared on July 2, 2019, while attending a conference near Chania and whose body was found six days later in an abandoned underground storage site used during World War II. (AP Photo/Giannis Angelakis)
The Associated Press