Byzantine Blog

Sister Serafima Killed by Three Albanians

Serbian daily Kurir (Messenger) reports on March 2, 2007, that a Serbian nun, Sister Serafima (Andjelka Mijailovic) has been found with a broken neck next to railway tracks near Staro Selo.

Sister Serafima, aged 34, was murdered on the night of February 21-22, 2007, on the Thessaloníki - Belgrade international train, and her body was found next to a railway in Staro Selo, near a small town of Velika Plana. Sister Serafima, born in Valjevo, was a nun at a monastery in Thessaloníki, and was buried yesterday at the Celije monastery near Valjevo, Serbia.

Although it is not known at this moment who had murdered Serafima, her father Branko Mijailovic suspects that the three Albanian men who were on the same train, had thrown her body off the train, about 100 kilometers from Belgrade.

Even though Serafima has been reported missing by her fellow female passenger, who has also given Serafima’s documents to the police, the police had not been able to identify the victim for 6 days, and she was initially buried as an unknown person. Her father, who lives with his family in Germany, says that Serafima went to see her family, via Belgrade, so that she could obtain the documents for her transfer from Salonika in Greece to the Zica monastery in Serbia.

“Serafima was sitting in a train compartment near Presevo (southern Serbia), when three Albanian men had entered it. As she was bothered by the smoke, she asked the train official to be moved to another compartment. Being a nun, naturally she felt uncomfortable sitting with three men. Serafima was then transfered into the next compartment. That compartment was occupied by a woman passenger from Krusevac (Serbia). At about 9 p.m, Serafima’s fellow passenger went to get some sandwiches and when she returned, 8 to 10 minutes later, Serafima was gone,” says Serafima’s father.

Her belongings had remained at the compartment and this woman — the fellow passenger — was interviewed by the police. She had initially reported Serafima’s disappearance and had handed Serafima’s belongings to the train official. He, however, claimed that Serafima got out at the Rakovica station “to buy a sandwich.”

They Held Her by the Legs and Thrown Her Off the Train

Serafima’s mobile phone was found among her personal belongings, with the number of her uncle. The police informed him of Serafima’s disappearance.

“Around the same time, on Feb. 22, at 11 a.m, a shepherdess discovered the body of a nun in her habit (uniform), in the village Staro Selo. There was a pair of jeans next to her body. The body laid just few yards (6 meters) away from the railway tracks. My daughter did not wear jeans ever since she became a nun 10 years ago,” says Serafima’s father.

“She was found in her socks which were perfectly clean and spotless. Her boots were not found so it is suspected that those men had held her by the legs when they had thrown her off the train. It is not clear where were they hiding her body from Presevo to Staro Selo.” (Comment by Alex: If they had thrown her out in Presevo, the suspected murderers would almost certainly be classified as Albanians. Instead, they waited and threw her body when they passed the troubled Presevo Valley. Presevo Valley is located in southern Serbia proper, adjacent to Kosovo province, and the Albanians want to secede this region and connect it to Serbian Kosovo province and Greater Albania).

But, this is where the real drama for the family began. Forensic experts have determined that she was not raped, and that the cause of her death was a broken neck.

“After my brother had informed me of her disappearance, her body has been transfered to the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Belgrade. After the autopsy has been performed, the body has been transfered to the local authorities in Velika Plana, which failed to identify her! So, she was classified as an unknown person, and buried at the local cemetery. Only yesterday we managed to exhume her and transfer her body to Valjevo and bury her at the Celije monastery. I do not understand why the Belgrade authorities did not inform their colleagues in the rest of Serbia that a nun has disappeared.” (Comment by Alex: That way the authorities in Velika Plana would have known her identity).

Serbian police is still conducting an investigation and has nothing to say on the case, but Kurir has learned that the monks and nuns in Serbian Kosovo province have offered their help in the investigation. Serbian embassies in Germany and Greece are also silent about the case. German police has been included in the investigation as well.

Sister Serafima’s Yugoslav passport (still valid in Serbia) and her Serbian ID card were stolen. Her other belongings — German passport and documents, bank cards and 50 Euros in cash — remained intact. Therefore, robbery has been ruled out as the motive for murder. The theft of a Yugoslav passport also points to the Albanian murderers, because forging stolen Yugoslav passports is a very profitable business for Albanians in Kosovo province. Serafima was a citizen of both Serbia and Germany.

Article translated by Alex