"I heard bam… I heard that F. Kalopsidiotis was murdered"

CEB1 48 Police, Crime, News, Nea Famagusta, lantern
CEB1 832 Police, Crime, News, Nea Famagusta, lantern

With the testimony of a couple, the hearing process for the quadruple murder that took place on the night of June 23, 2016 in Ayia Napa continued yesterday before the Permanent Criminal Court of Larnaca-Famagusta.

The victims of the attack were businessman Fanos Kalopsidiotis, police officer Elias Hadjiefthymiou, his wife Skei Hadjiefthymiou, and Yiani Vogli, one of the perpetrators.

The accused are Loy Dejan 42 years old, Marios Christodoulou otherwise Benny 39 years old, Panagiotis Pentavkas 38 years old, and Sofia Grigoriou 28 years old, who face together the charges of conspiracy to murder, premeditated murder, attempted murder, premeditated acts serious bodily harm, possession of a Class B firearm, possession of a Class A firearm, possession of a Class B firearm and possession of a Class A firearm.

The four defendants were taken to the courtroom of the Criminal Court, accompanied by armed police officers of the MAAD, who were by their side throughout the proceedings. The courtroom was also filled with police officers from various services of the Force.

During yesterday's trial, Makhalis Pikis, Marios Christodoulou's defense attorney, was questioned by Makis Nikolaou, a police officer serving at the TAE Headquarters and a case handler of the case, who yesterday submitted about 250 of the total 550 items.

Among the items submitted were mobile phones, calibers, bullets, bullets, fragments from the scene and the Glock pistol used by the dead perpetrator in the attack and found near his body and the pistol magazine.

Answering questions from Mr. Pikis, the witness said that some of the evidence in the case, such as the service pistol that was charged to police officer George Charalambous, the pistol with two cartridges in the waist bag of the late Elias Hadjiefthymiou and the Glock pistol used by the perpetrators, are kept in the safe of the Department.

Then, Theoklitos Panagi, owner of yachts, testified, and in the testimony he gave to the Police, which was submitted as a presumption and was part of his main examination, he stated that he is the owner of a house located on Kataspilon Street in Ayia Napa. He added that his house is very close to the field where the burnt car used by the perpetrators of the murder was found in the early hours of June 24, 2016.

He added that at 22:30 on June 23, 2016, he was in the basement of his house and was repairing a yacht he owned, when he heard "loud noise, the overturning of the tires of a motorcycle coming from the Larnaca-Paralimni highway". He then said he saw two people wearing black clothes but no helmets on a high-capacity street motorcycle, starting and going to the Ayia Napa roundabout.

He also stated that 45 minutes after midnight on June 24, 2016, while he was on his boat, he heard 5 to 6 shots from the side of the highway and immediately went out on the terrace where his wife was sitting and saw "something banging and black dense smoke 1 to 1,5 meters wide. "Then I heard a bang like a pump and then it caught fire."

Five minutes later, the witness continued, he called the Police to report the incident and learned that other people had contacted the Force. Shortly afterwards he went near the scene and saw that along with other people gathered a car was burning.

This was followed by the projection of visual material of the road that led to the spot where the burnt car was located and the witness showed the Court various scenes of the area.

Then, the wife of Theoklitos Panagis, Monica Panagi, from Poland, who has been in Cyprus since 2004, testified. 22:30 on June 23, 2016 she was sitting on the veranda of her house, when she heard a noise from a car door that closed. He added that he looked from the veranda and saw the front of a car and the rear lights of another vehicle on Kataspilon Street.

He then said that he saw a person wearing dark clothes enter the driver's seat of the first car and then the two cars started moving very, very slowly. She added that the two cars went for a while and stopped outside a dirt road that leads to her house, that is, just before the exit to the highway.

He also mentioned that both cars were dark in color, not tall, ie jeep type, and that the second vehicle was slightly larger than the first. The witness also said that after about two minutes he saw one car returning to Ayia Napa at low speed and calculated that it was one of the two cars he had seen before.

She also noted that shortly before 23:30 she was informed by her friends that "Fanos Kalopsidiotis and some others were killed". She also added that 45 minutes after midnight on June 24, 2016, while she was with her husband in the basement of their house repairing a boat, they heard 5 to 6 shots and saw from somewhere a thick black smoke coming out and after a while a fire.

Following the testimony and examination by the defense attorneys of the accused, the President of the Criminal Court set March 7 as the date for the continuation of the hearing. Until then, it was ordered that the four defendants be held in Central Prison.

Source: KYPE / SigmaLive