Doctor Josephakis “Joe” Charalambous had a thriving family practice when he became obsessed with 15-year-old Shelley Joel. Shelley, along with other members of her family, was his patient. Shelley’s parents were alarmed when the doctor began buying her gifts and calling her at home. He was obsessed with her. And they soon came to believe that the doctor brainwashed Shelley, luring her into an inappropriate, illegal, and abusive relationship. As soon as Shelley was legally allowed, she married Joe Charalambous. But she didn’t live happily ever after.

After the wedding, Joe continued to engage with prostitutes and his interest in young girls persisted.  He soon became infatuated with two pretty young patients, Katie and Sian Simmonds.  But Katie and Sian weren’t as easily brainwashed as Shelley had been.  They told their father about their doctor’s inappropriate remarks and behavior and he contacted the College of Physicians and Surgeons, helping his daughters file a formal complaint for sexual misconduct.  After Joe learned that the girls were scheduled to appear before the board, 19-year-old Sian Simmonds was murdered in her own basement apartment.

Join us at the quiet end for Just What the Doctor Ordered, an unbelievable story of a family physician willing to take a life to preserve his career and reputation.  Several people were not surprised that he was willing to take advantage of underaged patients to satisfy his own sexual deviancies, but the idea that he would stoop to murder was shocking. And, in a karmic twist, the doctor’s young wife Shelley’s testimony would be what did him in.

                   Sian Simmonds

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Sources

Fatal Prescription by John Griffiths

Josephakis Charalambous. Unsolved Canada website

R. v. Charalambous, 1997 Globe24h website.