Greek pilot who claimed his British wife was killed by intruders convicted of her murder | World News

[ad_1]

A Greek helicopter pilot who tried to claim his British wife was killed by armed robbers at their Athens home has been convicted of her murder.

A court in the Greek capital found 34-year-old Babis Anagnostopoulos guilty of murdering 20-year-old Caroline Crouch in May 2021 as the couple’s 11-month-old daughter slept in the house.

For weeks, he misled police by claiming she was killed in a brutal house invasion, courts heard.

Babis Anagnostopoulos, 34, a Greek pilot and flight instructor escorted by policemen arrives, at the court in Athens, Greece, Monday, May 16, 2022.  A verdict is expected Monday in the case of the helicopter pilot who confessed to murdering his young British-Greek wife Caroline Crouch, 20, and faking a robbery to mislead police in May 2021. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Image:
Anagnostopoulos initially claimed their home was broken into. Pic: AP

The UK-trained pilot has also been convicted of strangling the couple’s dog, to lend to his claim that the family was the victim of a break-in.

A sentencing hearing is expected to take place later today.

After abandoning the home invasion scenario, the defendant claimed Ms Crouch died following an altercation over child care.

Prosecutors maintained that he intentionally suffocated her while she was sleeping.

Anagnostopoulos initially told police that burglars broke into the house at night, binding and gagging the couple in their bedroom.

Read more:
Pilot accused of murdering British wife tells Greek court: ‘I ruined my life’
Husband placed baby next to British wife in fake crime scene

Caroline Crouch
Image:
Ms Crouch was suffocated in her sleep

Authorities initially announced a €300,000 (£254,000) reward for information, and police arrested Anagnostopoulos more than a month after Ms Crouch’s death.

He was seen attending a memorial service for her near her family home on the Aegean Sea Island of Alonissos and was seen hugging the victim’s mother before being led away.

[ad_2]

Source link