Heartbreaking pictures show Caroline Crouch getting ready for her wedding to the man who killed the Brit as her mother prepares to face murderer’s parents in court to battle for custody of her 11-month-old daughter
- Images show Caroline smiling as she had make-up done by a stylist in July 2019
- Less than two years after photos were taken, the mother-of-one was smothered
- She was killed by Babis Anagnostopoulos, 33, as their daughter lay nearby
- Caroline’s mother Susan Dela Cuesta wants full custody of the little girl, Lydia
Heartbreaking pictures show murdered mother Caroline Crouch getting ready for her wedding to the man who killed her.
The images show Caroline, who was then 18, smiling as she had her hair and make-up done by a stylist in July 2019.
Less than two years after the photos were taken, the mother-of-one was smothered by the man she had married, Babis Anagnostopoulos, 33, over the course of six minutes as their baby daughter Lydia lay nearby.
For weeks, Anagnostopoulos played the grieving widower as police searched for the ‘robbers’ he claimed had tied him up and killed his wife, plus the family’s pet dog, Roxy.
Then last Wednesday, hours after hugging Caroline’s mother at a memorial service, the 33-year-old finally brought the cruel charade to an end with a police confession.
On Friday, Caroline’s mother Susan Dela Cuesta is set to face off with the parents of Anagnostopoulos – Constantinos and Georgia – in court to wrangle over who will care for Lydia.
Heartbreaking pictures show murdered mother Caroline Crouch getting ready for her wedding to the man who killed her. The images show Caroline, who was then 18, smiling as she had her hair and make-up done by a stylist in July 2019
Less than two years after the photos were taken, the mother-of-one was smothered by the man she had married, Babis Anagnostopoulos, 33, over the course of six minutes as their baby daughter Lydia lay nearby
Susan is demanding that she and her husband David – Caroline’s father – be given full custody and that Lydia stay with them on Alonnisos until a final decision is made.
Lydia is currently being looked after by Anagnostopoulos’s parents at their Athens home and they are demanding that custody of her be shared.
His lawyer, Alexandros Papaioannidis told MailOnline that Lydia’s two grandmothers, Susan and Georgia, had spoken on the phone and that both wanted what was best for the child.
He said: ‘Both families want different things, but they are on good terms and are communicating. It is the court that will have to find a solution about this.
The images showed Caroline smiling as she prepared for her marriage to the man who would take her life
Caroline gave birth to her daughter last year. The little girl was present when her mother was smothered
‘Keeping Lydia for part of the time in Athens and part of the time in Alonnisos is not feasible.
‘My client is in prison and the only thing that he can do is care for his child as best he can. He wants custody to be shared.’
While confessing to his crime, Anagnostopoulos claimed that he staged an elaborate hoax to make it appear that Caroline had been killed in a botched burglary because he did not want Lydia to be brought up without any parent.
Thanassis Hamanis, a lawyer representing the Crouch family, confirmed earlier this week that his clients wanted full custody.
He said: ‘You can understand the position of the mother who at some point became conscious of the fact that at her daughter’s second funeral [her memorial last week] she was embraced by the same hands that cut off her child’s very breath.
‘You can understand how painful and how tragic it is for a mother.’
Susan and the parents of Anagnostopoulos have also been summoned to testify in an Athens court next week on details of their respective children’s stormy marriage.
Distraught Susan is to travel from her home on the island of Alonnisos to give evidence, and is expected to describe Anagnostopoulos as ‘controlling,’ who prevented her from maintaining a healthy relationship with her family.
Caroline’s father, who is aged 78, is too ill to travel to Athens for the hearing.
On Friday, Caroline’s mother Susan Dela Cuesta (pictured above) is set to face off with the parents of Anagnostopoulos – Constantinos and Georgia – in court to wrangle over who will care for Lydia
Anagnostopoulos’s parents meanwhile are expected to testify that it was Caroline who was verbally and physically abusive towards their son.
A number of family friends have also been summoned to give evidence on the claims.
While on the face of it the couple appeared to have a seemingly perfect life in their Athens villa with their one-year-old child and a number of pets, Anagnostopoulos has claimed that in truth, Caroline was physically and verbally abusive towards him.
He told a court earlier this week that his judgement became ‘blurred’ prompting him to kill her after she attacked him.
His lawyers have summoned the parents as part of their case that the couple rowed regularly and that on the night of the murder, Anagnostopoulos acted on impulse and did not plan it.
An Athens court is also to make an interim decision on Friday on who should have custody over the couple’s one-year old daughter Lydia.
Susan is demanding that she and David be given full custody and that Lydia stay with them on Alonnisos until a final decision is made.
Ms Dela Cuesta is demanding that she and her husband David – Caroline’s father – be given full custody and that Lydia stay with them on Alonnisos until a final decision is made
Yesterday police released pictures of the scene where the killer suffocated his wife and killed their dog.
It showed broken patio doors where Anagnostopoulos claimed a gang had entered their Greek villa.
A disabled security camera was on the floor along with an upturned Monopoly box where the shameless father said the ‘thieves’ had found €10,000 of savings.
The images came as he tried to blame his wife for her own death, claiming a miscarriage ‘changed her behaviour’.
He told a court Caroline had ‘aggressive outbursts’ after the loss of their first baby and the ‘explosions’ drove him to kill her at the couple’s luxury home in Athens last month.
Yesterday police released pictures of the scene where the killer suffocated his wife and killed their dog
A CCTV camera which Babis said masked raiders had disabled is seen on the floor, with police now saying he disabled it himself in evidence he planned Caroline’s killing
A Monopoly box where Babis claimed to have been hiding a large amount of cash which the burglars wanted, but which police now say never existed
The Greek pilot then played the distraught widower, claiming his wife had been killed by burglars.
But as police began picking apart his version of events he confessed to suffocating her in her sleep in front of their 11-month-old daughter and staging the crime scene.
‘I really regret this act, I ruined my life and my family,’ he told a judge when he appeared in court in Athens this week, the transcript of which was released yesterday.
Anagnostopoulos and Miss Crouch wed in 2019, when she was 18 and he was 31.
He told a judge: ‘Caroline became pregnant a few weeks after we got married. This child would complete our family and our happiness.
‘Unfortunately, when she was three months’ pregnant, Caroline miscarried, and since then her behaviour had been gradually changing.
‘From that moment on, she started to have aggressive outbursts and explosions towards me.
‘In order to be able to manage this situation, I suggested we visit a psychologist in order to save our family.
‘At first, Caroline accepted and was regular with the sessions, but gradually she began to find various excuses and eventually stopped.’
Babis argued in court that he should be freed on bail so he can continue looking after his daughter with Caroline, an argument the judge rejected
Anagnostopoulos claimed the couple had ‘argued’ again on the night of May 11 but denied he planned to kill her.
In chilling detail, the helicopter pilot spelt out the awful final moments of his wife’s life.
He said: ‘Caroline started shaking her body, to get out of my arms, and I kept holding her tight.
‘At one point, her face was wincing on the pillow. I kept holding her in my arms until she stopped rocking.
‘All this lasted for about five minutes, from the time I hugged her until the time she stopped rocking.’
Anagnostopoulos was branded a ‘monster’ by women’s rights campaigners when he went to court on Tuesday.
They screamed ‘rot in jail’ to him, and said he typified Greece’s growing problem with domestic violence.
Anagnostopoulos claimed he had mounted the cover-up because he could not bear Lydia growing up without either parent.
Last night Anagnostopoulos’s father Constantinos said from his home in Athens: ‘For now, we are concentrating on the child. Even now, as I speak, I’m preparing food for her.
‘We will do whatever it takes to have custody of her and hope that we can come to an arrangement.’
Anagnostopoulos is expected to enter a plea to a murder charge when he next appears in court.
He has been taken from the female wing of a maximum security prison on the outskirts of Athens to the male part – where he asked to find work.
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