Husband of British murder victim Caroline Crouch quizzed for the second time by Greek detectives
- Greek police are still investigating the murder of Briton Caroline Crouch, 20, who was strangled to death on May 11 at her family home near Athens
- Police will question husband Charalambos Anagnostopoulos for a second time ‘to go over what happened in even further detail’ the night she died
- Comes after cops failed to link Georgian with history of burglaries to the crime
- DNA testing has proved inconclusive while home CCTV cameras were broken
Police probing the murder of a British mother killed during a horror burglary in Greece will question her husband for a second time, it has been revealed.
Charalambos Anagnostopoulos, 33, will be quizzed by detectives in Athens to ‘go over what happened in even further detail’ during the May 11 raid in which wife Caroline Crouch, 20, was strangled to death
Mr Anagnostopoulos will also be interviewed by a psychologist to try and ‘illuminate’ some ‘elusive’ spots in the investigation, such as who might have known about a large amount of cash being stored at the family home.
According to previous statements that Mr Anagnostopoulos gave to police, he was tied up by three robbers who broke into his home near Athens in the early hours, who demanded £10,000 in cash he was hiding in a Monopoly box.
The robbers allegedly threatened to harm the couple’s 11-month-old daughter and then strangled Caroline to death when she began screaming.
Briton Caroline Crouch (left) was strangled to death in front of her daughter during what husband Babis Anagnostopoulos (right) described as a horror break-in
Police will question Babis (left) for a second time ‘to go over what happened’ after DNA evidence collected from the body of Caroline (right) proved inconclusive
Police have arrested a suspect – a Georgian man with a history of burglaries who was caught trying to leave the country on a fake passport – but have been unable to link him to the murder.
A police source told The Sun: ‘The husband will be questioned again and asked to go over what happened in even further detail and what he saw at the scene.
‘The psychologist will try and find out from him who else knew about the money. We want to illuminate some spots which have proved elusive.’
It comes after DNA evidence collected from underneath Caroline’s fingernails as she fought her attacker proved to be inconclusive.
CCTV cameras at the home also failed to provide clues because they were either not working or did not have memory cards on the night of the break-in.
It came after the first images emerged of the Georgian suspect, who has denied any link with the break-in.
He has been charged with carrying out a violent burglary in March that bears striking similarities to the horrifying break-in the home in Glyka Nera.
He is accused of being one of five robbers who tied up an elderly couple and their cleaning lady in the brutal raid on a home in Pikermi.
The house is a 20-minute drive from Glyka Nera, where the three men killed Miss Crouch, 20, and strangled the family dog before making off with 10,000 euros in cash and £20,000 worth of jewellery.
The Athens-Macedonia news agency reported: ‘The Georgian criminal told police he had nothing to do with the break-in and Caroline’s murder.
‘He has been very apathetic and aloof in the way he speaks to the police about the crimes and about Caroline’s murder.’
A police source said that even if the Georgian wasn’t one of the robbers who broke into Miss Crouch’s home, he is thought to be part of the same network of criminal gangs.
Meanwhile, it was reported last night that Greek police were hunting an Albanian recently released from prison in connection with Miss Crouch’s death.
Detectives have been so-far unable to link the only suspect – a Georgian man with a history of violent break-ins (pictured) – to the murder
The 43-year-old was arrested last week while trying to cross into Bulgaria on a fake passport, but has denied any involvement in the killing
Greek police said they were investigating whether the robbers had been tipped off about their victims’ plans to buy a 100,000-euro plot of land in Drafi, a short drive from Glyka Nera.
Detectives think the thugs believed the cash was in the house, not realising the money had already changed hands.
Investigators believe this theory is consistent with the burglars’ demands for money even after Mr Anagnostopoulos had directed them to a 10,000-euro stash in a Monopoly box.
Ms Crouch’s husband had been tied up and left after the robbery. He had only been able to raise the alarm after using his nose to dial the police on his phone.
The pilot eventually managed to phone police, and officers arrived to find baby Lydia crying and instinctively patting her mother’s lifeless body in an apparent attempt to rouse her.
The baby was unhurt but their dog, Bruno, had been strangled to death.
The Georgian suspect was arrested in the Evros region of north-east Greece on Friday. His car was stopped close to the Bulgarian border for a routine check and he was found to have a fake passport, a police source said.
Athens Police said in a statement on Saturday: ‘A 43-year-old foreigner was arrested by police officers of the Property Prosecution Department of the Attica Security Directorate, against whom a case had been filed for robbery in collaboration and an Arrest Warrant had been issued.
‘He is accused that on 5-3-2021, together with four unknown accomplices, having their full face features covered, entered a house in Pikermi, Attica, immobilized an elderly couple and the domestic worker and deducted money and jewelry.
Mr Anagnostopoulos previously told police that three men broke into his family home early on May 11, stole £10,000 he was keeping in a Monopoly box, then strangled his wife
Babis shared a tribute to his wife Caroline Crouch on Sunday. Under the photo taken on their wedding day he writes: ‘Together forever. Have a nice trip my love’
‘It is noted that the 43-year-old, at noon on 14-5-2021, in order to leave the country, went to the Border Crossing Point at Evros area, where he was arrested by police officers of the EvrosPassport Control Department, for possession and use of a forged travel document, forgery and of illegal exit from the country.’
Police spokesman George Kalliakmanis said the tactics used by the burglars in March were almost identical to the brutal techniques used by thugs who killed Miss Crouch.
‘In that burglary they tied up the old couple and forced them to say where they kept their money,’ he said. ‘Even after they had found the money they continued to demand where the rest of the couple’s valuables were.’
The suspect’s court appearance came after Ms Crouch’s heartbroken husband shared a picture of their wedding day, telling his wife they would be ‘together for ever’.
Ms Crouch, a statistics student at the University of Piraeus, moved to the island of Alonissos with her Filipino mother Susan Dela Cuesta and British father David Crouch, 78, when she was eight. She met her husband on the island four years ago.
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