The clock is now counting down to the start of the trial for the murder of Caroline Crouch last May inside the Sweetwater condominium. The crime that had shocked the nation is now entering the trial before the Mixed Jury Court of Athens, with the 33-year-old pilot preparing his defence, although the evidence in the case file combined with his own confession about the circumstances under which he took the life of his 20-year-old wife and mother of his child, can hardly be shaken.
t№6 The way for the start of the trial was paved by a verdict-conviction issued last Wednesday by the Athens Plenary Council, fully adopting the relevant proposal of prosecutor Georgios Noulis. According to the verdict, the 33-year-old is to be tried for intentional homicide committed in a calm state of mind and animal abuse (felonies), but also for false accusation (because he made others suspect of his actions) and for repeated false testimony.t№8 The 33-year-old faces life imprisonment for the homicide and up to ten years for the animal abuse offence. As for the offence of making a false statement repeatedly, the penalty is up to three years, while for the offence of making a false report he can be sentenced to up to one year.
t№10 The 33-year-old does not intend to appeal the verdict that referred him to trial. He is reportedly in a poor psychological state in his cell and is now awaiting the determination of his trial after the verdict, which is expected within the next five to six months. The hearing will not be a long one, as the list of witnesses who will testify in court does not include many people, with the most important equals being the police officers who will describe what they saw when they rushed to the maisonette in Sweet Waters, and the forensic doctor who carried out the autopsy-necropsy on the body of the deceased girl. According to her report, the death of the 20-year-old girl occurred at 4 to 5 in the morning of 11 May and it was concluded that "it was not instantaneous, but was agonizing".t№12
"I did not plan anything"t№15
As reported, the 33-year-old pilot at the time of the trial will stick to the defense line he had drawn during the interrogation, namely that he did not plan the crime and that he had no motive to commit it. In fact, he will state that he regrets what he did and will stress, as he already does from prison, that his absolute priority is to offer the best he can to his daughter, little Lydia, who is now growing up with her parents Caroline in Alonissos.t№18 As far as the moments of the crime are concerned, the defendant will stick to his initial allegations. "Caroline was asleep. In order not to scare her, I lay down next to her and took her in my arms. Caroline was face down on the bed and the right side of her face was resting on the pillow. I said, "Can I take the little one and we can go upstairs?" And she replied, 'No don't bring the little one, I don't want you' and started shaking her body to get out of my arms," the 33-year-old had given a preliminary statement to then claim the following: "I continued to hold her tightly in my arms and told her that the little girl should go upstairs to sleep. She kept shaking and I kept holding her tighter and tighter because I wanted to make her listen to me and convince her that the three of us should sleep together. At some point as she was shaking her face against the pillow, I mean her mouth and nose were touching the pillow, I kept holding her in my arms until she stopped shaking. This all lasted about five minutes from the time I hugged her until the time she stopped moving. I lost it. I tried to wake her up, I rocked her, but it was hopeless. Then I realized what had happened..."t№21 "Callous"
t№23However, the indictment, adopting Mr Noulis' suggestion, completely dismisses the defendant's claims that Caroline's death was essentially an accident. The point that the judges and the prosecutor pressed to refute this claim of the accused is the "theatre" that he played for more than a month, pretending to be a broken husband and misleading the authorities who were trying to solve the crime.
t№26 As the verdict states, the complete clarity of Charalambos Anagnostopoulos is evident "from the completeness of the relevant 'staging' both after the commission of the homicide and before it, which demonstrates that he worked it out earlier and calculatedly and not under the state of uncontrollable impulse".t№28 Both the prosecutor and the judges accept that from the above evidence "absolute certainty is formed as to the intensity of the accused's irrepressible temper and the cruelty and callousness of his personality". Finally, the verdict orders the extension of the 33-year-old's pre-trial detention "until the final trial of the charges against him, but not beyond six more months."
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Cyprus Timest№37
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