[imagesource: AP]

33-year-old Charalambos Anagnostopoulos, who goes by Babis, appeared in an Athens court yesterday on murder charges.

20-year-old Caroline Church was murdered on May 11, and Babis originally told police that he had been forced to listen to his wife’s murder, as he was tied up and blindfolded in the neighbouring room.

That narrative soon fell apart, and when your partner ends up murdered, and you’re christened ‘the Greek Oscar Pistorius’, it’s not a good sign.

Giorgos Kalliakmanis, a police union head, even went as far as to say that law enforcement “have experienced the Greek version of the Pistorius case, it has almost the same characteristics.”

Greek police said they had obtained a confession from Babis, who faced a mountain of evidence that rendered his initial story patently false.

During yesterday’s court appearance, the helicopter pilot told those present that “I ruined my life, I ruined my family’s life.”

Sky News reports:

Babis Anagnostopoulos arrived at court wearing a bullet-proof vest and flanked by armed police…

According to reports, he told the court in Athens: “I wish I could go back in time.”

Image: AP

He apologised for the killing, denied having an accomplice and said the attack had not been planned but had happened in the heat of a row.

According to data from Crouch’s smartwatch, it took Babis around six minutes to strangle her to death.

That’s plenty of time to realise you’re being a monster.

Babis faces charges for two offences: intentional homicide and killing of an animal, as well as two misdemeanours.

In an attempt to make the crime scene look convincing, he is accused of choking the family dog with a leash.

Outside the courtroom, a crowd shouted “murderer” and said they hoped he would “rot in jail”.

Below via The Telegraph:

Athanasios Harmanis, the lawyer for Ms Crouch’s family, said that Anagnostopoulos has ‘great acting skills’ and added that he believes the crime was premeditated…

A Georgian man, arrested in May when it appeared that Babis and Crouch had been the victims of a robbery, says he was subjected to torture by Greek police looking to obtain a confession:

“They had me tied to a chair for four days. The police were beating me up very hard, I was getting dizzy and when one of them would get tired, the other would continue,” he told Georgian media.

“They were just telling me to confess I killed the girl. I did not know what girl we are talking about,” he added.

Prosecutors believe that they have more than enough evidence, and if Babis is found guilty on all charges, he would face a life sentence.

He will be detained in Greece’s high-security Korydallos jail pending trial later this year.

[sources:sky&telegraph]