DRUG OVERDOSE PRODUCES MURDER CHARGE

Police Say A Pharmacist Gave A Woman Morphine, Prepared It And Showed
Her How To Inject It.

CLEARWATER -- It was a routine call, as fatal overdoses go.

A woman was dead. Track marks pierced her body. Paramedics couldn't
get her to breathe.

But some things stood out to Clearwater police investigators.

Christina Hurst's friend and roommate, Vasilios Katogiritis, had
provided her with the fatal dose of morphine, police said. Under
Florida law, someone who delivers drugs that cause someone's death
can be charged with first-degree murder.

But in this case, something else stood out.

Katogiritis is a licensed pharmacist.

He was booked into the Pinellas County jail Tuesday on a first-degree
murder charge, the result of a grand jury indictment on Feb. 20.

Katogiritis, 36, was believed to be in Greece at the time of the
indictment, and wasn't taken into custody until March 26, when he
arrived at La Guardia Airport in New York. U.S. Customs Service
agents arrested him on the murder warrant. He was then extradited to
Florida.

Prosecutors say Katogiritis told them he purchased the morphine on
the streets of Philadelphia.

There is no indication he took the morphine from one of several Tampa
Bay area pharmacies where he worked, though police are still
investigating his source, said Clearwater police Detective Stephen
Bohling.

Police say Katogiritis delivered the drugs to Hurst, 23, on Oct. 14
at his Savannah Trace apartment, 2690 Drew St., where she had been
staying.

Katogiritis crushed the morphine pills, dissolved them in warm water,
drew the liquid into syringes and showed Hurst how to inject herself,
police said.

He and Hurst injected the liquid morphine over the next 12 to 15
hours, according to an affidavit.

The next morning, Katogiritis was unable to awaken Hurst and called
911. Hurst had needle marks on her right buttock.

Bohling said Katogiritis admitted to him that he gave the drugs to
Hurst. Bohling said Katogiritis provided Hurst with the equivalent of
15 morphine pills, enough to cause a fatal overdose.

"He said it was a mutual decision," Bohling said. "He brought up the
idea and she agreed to it."

Bohling said Katogiritis worked for Cardinal Health Staffing in
Tampa, a company that provides pharmacists for drug stores and
clinics throughout Florida. Katogiritis worked at three or four Tampa
Bay area pharmacies, which Bohling did not name.

"They're innocent in this whole thing," Bohling said.

Officials with Cardinal Health Staffing could not be reached for comment.

Bohling said Hurst also may have a drug history.

She was charged with possession of Vicodin, a prescription pain
killer, in November 1999. She also was charged with nudity in an
alcohol establishment in July 2000. She pleaded no contest to both
charges.

Hurst's family could not be reached for comment Tuesday. According to
an obituary notice, she is survived by a son, her mother and a
brother.

Katogiritis has no criminal record in Florida, but was charged with
drunken driving in Pennsylvania in 1996.

Use of the law under which Katogiritis is charged is rare, but not
unheard of, said Chief Assistant State Attorney Bruce Bartlett.

"This case seems to suggest he had a more active role in her actually
taking the drugs," Bartlett said.

The law holds someone responsible if they inject the drugs, sell them
to, or share them with the victim.

The charge has been used twice in Hillsborough County in the last
year. The defendants either were convicted or pleaded to lesser
charges. Both were sentenced to probation or community control.

Some defense attorneys have said the law is vague and too harsh in some cases.

- - Staff writer Monique Fields and researcher Cathy Wos contributed to
this report.