The Greek helicopter pilot, who was sentenced to life in prison for the brutal murder of his British wife in Athens last year, says he lives in fear of those he initially accused of the crime.
Weeks after he was found guilty of strangling Caroline Crouch, Babis Anagnostopoulos said his own life was in danger because he had been the target of a “contract killing”.
In a written statement stating that he should remain in the capital’s highest security prison, Koridalos, the 34-year-old said he had learned from his co-prisoners about the “huge amount of money” offered for his life. “It has become clear from the above that there is a ‘contract killing’ against me,” he was quoted as saying by Greek television channel Star on Saturday.
The horrific way in which the 20-year-old Crouch was killed while lying in the couple’s penthouse in the suburbs, meters from their daughter, caused shock waves in Greece. In a rare step, the government announced a reward of 300,000 euros to identify the perpetrators.
For 37 days, Anagnostopoulos posed as a heartbroken widow, riveting the murder on ruthless “Albanian or Georgian thieves” who had broken into the house.
The cover-up, which involved strangling Caroline’s pet dog, was only revealed when expert analysis of the smartwatch the Briton wore and data from the Greek pilot’s mobile phone revealed inconsistencies in his own version of events.
But while he eventually confessed to killing his wife, the suspects were subjected to grueling interrogations after they were reportedly identified in police forces by a UK-trained pilot.
One, a 43-year-old Georgian man accused of being a member of a criminal gang behind similar robberies in the area, describes how he endured four days of torture by Greek police seeking to extract confessions from him.
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Following his transfer to the Malandrinos prison in the central Greek region of Phocis on Monday, the pilot’s lawyer, Alexandros Papaioanidis, told the Observer that there was no doubt that his client’s life was in danger.
“He would be much safer in Koridalos,” the lawyer said, adding that Anagnostopoulos was threatened by a Georgian prisoner who wanted to kill him in January.
“Conditions in Malandrinos are very difficult. Most of the prisoners are foreigners and hardened criminals. We demanded that he be returned to Koridalos for humanitarian and security reasons.
During a six-week trial in a mixed jury in Athens, Anagnostopoulos, who is moving fast to appeal his life sentence, has been repeatedly described as narcissistic and controlling.
Psychiatrist Algestis Igoumenakis, who was among the defense witnesses, said it was clear that the defendant was suffering from severe antisocial personality disorder, which not only left him with a sense of superiority and inability to empathize, but made him capable of doing so. crimes.
Following the court ruling, the Crouch family’s lawyer, Thanassis Haramanis, said Caroline’s upset parents had reason to feel justified. conscience for your actions.
Forensic doctors described the British woman’s death as painful, saying it took more than five minutes of prolonged suffocation by her husband to “drain her life”.
Last week, the convicted killer admitted he had ambitions to be a lawyer, telling prison officials he wanted to take exams to enter law school.
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