World

Pilot gives five-hour testimony in court

June 23, 2021 12:59 pm

Babis Anagnostopoulos, shown here on 18 June, wore a bullet-proof vest to his court appearance [Source: EPA]

A helicopter pilot who confessed to killing his British wife in Greece and trying to make it look like a robbery has given a five-hour testimony.

Babis Anagnostopoulos, 33, wore a bullet-proof vest and was surrounded by heavily armed guards when he arrived at the Athens courthouse on Tuesday.

He is accused of killing his 20-year-old wife, Caroline Crouch, on 11 May, in a crime that has shocked Greece.

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He was arrested after police analysed smart watch and mobile phone data.

Women’s rights activists heckled the pilot as he was led into the courthouse.

A coroner’s report said Ms Crouch had been sleeping when she was attacked, and that “asphyxiation took five to six minutes”.

Mr Anagnostopoulos, who police say confessed last week, was taken to Korydallos prison in Athens on Tuesday evening, Greece’s largest jail.

On his way to the jail he addressed journalists at the courthouse saying “a big apology”, Kathimerini daily reported.

Greek media is reporting that he made two requests in his testimony – to get expert examination on his home security camera, and to bring in friends and family as witnesses for greater understanding of his relationship with Ms Crouch. He also denied the killing was premeditated, and said it happened in the heat of the moment.

For a month after her death, Mr Anagnostopoulos told police three robbers had broken into the couple’s home in Glyka Nera, near Athens, tied them up and gagged them while their one-year-old daughter slept.

The baby was unharmed in the ordeal, but the family’s seven-month-old puppy, Roxy, was found hanging, having been choked to death by its own leash.

Initially, authorities announced a €300,000 ($356,700; £256,700) reward for information following the murder, but then realised his story did not add up.

Investigators found no trace of the gang he claimed had tied him up, suffocated his wife and stolen €15,000 in cash.