SECOND UPDATE: Murder, He Wrote

 

Jeff–Saturday

 

Fifteen months ago, I reported on a murder so horrendous that it shook the Greek people to the core. [See, Murder, He Wrote for an extensive description of events.] So much so, that Greek National TV interrupted coverage of the Euro football championships to broadcast details of the confession.

 

 

It involved a 20-year-old British-Greek wife and mother, Caroline Crouch, murdered on May 11, 2021 in the presence of her pilot/flight instructor husband, Babis Anagnostopoulos, and 11-month-old baby.  The original story, as told by the husband, placed the blame on a band of brutal home invasion thieves claimed to have entered their suburban Athens home at random.  He accused them of being Eastern European foreigners—so ruthless that they also strangled the couple’s dog.  The crime spread fear across the nation over the potential risk to each family’s safety in its own home.

 

On June 16, 2021, after eight hours of police questioning, Husband confessed to the murder, claiming his wife told him that she was planning to leave him and take their baby with her before he “blurred” and killed her. In other words, a crime of passion, not premeditated.

At the time I wrote, “I’m sure [the story] will make its way into any number of fiction and non-fiction novels, for it’s a tragedy steeped in outrageous deception, domestic violence, and endemic prejudice.  It’s also a tale of sharp police work, with an ironic final twist.”

Five months ago, in an update to my original post, [See, UPDATE: Murder, He Wrote] I described in detail a new twist asserted by Husband on the verge of trial.  He now claimed to have acted “in a fit of rage” over Caroline’s “mistreatment” of their baby daughter and that he’d acted to protect the baby. As the press reported at the time, Husband was desperate to avoid the life sentence and minimum twenty-year imprisonment imposed for premeditated murder. Not to mention an additional likely ten-year sentence for killing their dog.

I concluded that update with this line: Stay tuned for further plot developments…

Well, those developments have come to pass.  They’ve been reported in a media feeding frenzy that overlaps so much in coverage, including translations, that the best I can offer is a fair representation of the participants’ quotes, as culled from BBC, Daily Mail, Guardian, Greek City Times, Greek Reporter, and the Sun, but the substance is all here. 

As described in Greek City Times, “In court on Wednesday [May 11, 2022], the killer recounted how he had met his wife when he was in his late twenties, and she was just fifteen. The two began a sexual relationship when Crouch was just sixteen.

“‘She is the rarest person I have ever met in my life. A brilliant woman. At 16 you could speak with her about anything. Her personality was lovely. She filled anyone with love,’ he stated.

“If I could turn back time, I’d choose Caroline again.”

All of that was offered as part of Husband’s plea to the court for mercy, hoping for a finding of no premeditation. This time, though, he dropped his “protecting the baby” contention in favor of a return to his claimed “heat of the moment” reaction to Caroline telling him she wanted to leave him and take their child with her.

Bottom line: A mixed court of jurors and judges didn’t buy it, and unanimously found husband guilty of the premeditated murder of his wife and strangulation of their dog. 

 

On June 16, 2022, the court sentenced Husband to the toughest penalty possible under Greek law: a life sentence for the premeditated murder of his wife, a jail term of 11 years and six months for the brutal killing of the family’s pet dog, and a fine of €21,000.

 

Not surprisingly, Husband has appealed the sentence and is attempting to paint himself as a model prisoner, dedicated to helping his fellow inmates, and having personally intervened to end dangerous interactions among inmates.

 

However, not all his fellow inmates would agree.

 

Remember those unidentified “foreigners” husband originally had blamed for the murder of his wife? 

 

Let’s just say, as the adage goes, Karma is a bitch!

According to the Daily Mail, three days after Caroline’s murder a Georgian man was arrested up by the border of Greece and Bulgaria.

The Georgian matched a photofit of one the burglars Husband had given investigators.  Allegedly, he was tied to a chair and beaten for four days by Greek homicide police.

Following his arrest, the Georgian was paraded in front of the court in Athens by triumphant police who said he was the prime suspect.

The Georgian told Georgian media: “I was tied up for four days and beaten while they told me to confess to this girl's murder.

“I did not know what was happening, I had never even heard of this girl. They would take turns beating me very hard, my head was spinning, and I had a concussion.

“When one got tired, the other would then start to beat me. All they would say was 'Tell us how did you kill her, how did you get in the house, how did you get out of there?”

Ultimately, he was released, after being charged with an unconnected robbery.

Upon Husband’s conviction, three officers from the Athens homicide squad were demoted by reason of the treatment of the Georgian man while in custody.

Husband, though, faces far more serious consequences by reason of his part in the treatment of the Georgian.  As described in this Daily Mail headline:

 

“Greek pilot who murdered his British wife, 20, is moved to a tougher prison as it emerges he was previously attacked by inmate 'wanting to kill him' in revenge after his friend was wrongly arrested during investigation.”

Husband spent a year in Athens’ high-security, notoriously tough Korydallos prison awaiting trial. While there, he was attacked by a Georgian inmate, who the guards were able to stop before he did harm to Husband.  According to the inmate, he’d come from another prison, and been looking for Husband because he wanted to kill him in retaliation for how his fellow Georgian­–who’d been wrongfully arrested for Husband’s crime–had been treated by the police.

According to Husband’s lawyer, “The attack happened in the wing where my client was in custody and there have been other attempts to attack him. He is scared but, at the moment, he is fine.’`             

Husband has since been moved 250 miles away from Athens to another notorious prison, Malandrino, and he is not happy about his transfer.

He’s complained that the location makes it much harder for his family to visit him and it will be very difficult if not impossible for him to see his daughter.

Yep, that’s one of his arguments. Sort of like the old dark joke about the father who brutally killed his wife looking to avoiding the death penalty by claiming his execution would leave his children orphans.   

But, as you may have guessed, in truth there’s a more likely reason for Husband challenging the transfer. He’s now in a prison housing 900 hardened criminals, many convicted of heinous crimes. Husband fears for his personal safety. He claims there are contracts out on him offering a “huge amount of money” for his death. As bad as it was in Athens, where he is now is worse.

Husband is said to have spent his first few days at the new prison in solitary confinement before being placed in a cell with three other inmates.

As for Caroline’s family’s reaction to Husband’s current predicament, her father, David, had this to say:

“No amount of prison time can ever bring back my beautiful daughter but I am just gratified that the court didn't believe the scurrilous nonsense that he produced during his testimony.

“I am further gratified to know that he will serve his time in the toughest prison in Greece which has one of the worst prison systems in Europe.

His being “incarcerated with fellow murderers and perverts of every stripe in that prison has provided a sliver of consolation.”

“When he eventually completes his sentence, which many people think he might not survive, he will be a changed man, a broken man, far older than his true age.

'Now that his fate is settled, Susan and I can move on. I intend to change Lydia's name to that of her mother so that she will never be associated with this odious creature.”

Why do I sense this story is not over?

 

 

––Jeff

 

Jeff’s Upcoming Book Events

Friday, November 18, 2002 @10am

ICELAND NOIR

Reykjavik, Iceland

Where is My Mind? Madness and Obsession
AUTHORS:  Louise Mangos, Paul Cleave, Jeff Siger, Thomas Fecchio
MODERATOR: Ewa Sherman