Four on trial in Cuba for murder of former Niagara businessman

Closure has come in fits and starts for the family of a former Niagara man found murdered in Cuba.

Four locals suspected in the December 2020 killing of John Panoutsopoulos, 70, went on trial in Havana in mid-January. They're being held in prison, charged with murder and possession of weapons and explosives.

Beyond that, his daughter, Alicia Demi Panos, and her brothers aren't being told very much, she said in an interview.

They're saying (the jail terms) could go for 20, 25 years," said Panos, who lives in London, Ont.

But at this point I don't know if I even believe anything that's being said to me because no one is keeping me in the loop as much as I would like to be."

She said personal items and documents belonging to her dad are missing, she hasn't learned much about what led to the killing, and it took two months before his remains were shipped home to Canada.

Global Affairs Canada has been helpful, Panos said, but they just keep saying the only information we can provide' is what is being provided to them.

They keep reminding me it's different in Cuba. A lot of the information is private or confidential, and they can't share it."

Panoutsopoulos, a retired Niagara-on-the-Lake businessman, once operated the Red Onion and Ristorante restaurants in Niagara. He was living with Panos in London and was a frequent traveller to Cuba.

He was visiting the Caribbean island in spring 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic started, and decided to wait it out there.

He was slain sometime between Dec. 12 and 15 in Guanabo, a beachside community 20 kilometres east of Havana.

Panos first learned of her father's death through a friend of his in Cuba, and presumed it was by natural causes.

A week later she and her brothers, Kosta and Christopher, were told by Global Affairs it was a violent death caused by asphyxiation.

Another traveller from Guanabo told her Panoutsopoulos had talked about buying another vehicle, either a car or a scooter, and word spread that he'd withdrawn money for the purchase.

Previously, Global Affairs Canada has declined comment on the case other than to say it is working with the family and in contact with local authorities to gather more information.

Anxious to learn more and sitting 2,300 km from Havana, Panos said she feels out of the loop."

At the beginning they told me my dad had some paperwork there, and a passport and wallet, and they were going to ship it to me. Because obviously, that stuff is a little bit sentimental ..." she said.

And then to hear that during the investigation the police or random people could have walked in and just taken everything, you think that if that's possible then there are some issues of trust on my end."

Eventually, all that was returned to her were a few necklaces. The paperwork is missing, as is a will if he had one. His scooter is unaccounted for. She donated his clothes to a Havana-area charity.

Her family sent $6,500 to cover expenses for cremation and transportation, and Global Affairs Canada chipped in another $3,500.

She picked up her dad's ashes at the airport in late February or early March last year.

It was just strange, because it was in like a plastic bag that you would get at a grocery store ... it was in a nice cross, like a wooden box, but when you opened it it was just put in a plastic bag," she said.

Even their plan to hold a celebration of life for Panoutsopoulos has been drawn out, with COVID-19 rules making it impossible to bring in family from across Canada and the U.S.

Meanwhile, they're haunted by questions about what really happened to their dad inside his room.

The nightmares don't go away," Panos said. I just need this to be over with and kind of move on, finally."

Gord Howard is a St. Catharines-based reporter with the Standard. Reach him via email: gord.howard@niagaradailies.com