Politics
Caroline Crouch’s killer husband ‘panicked’ & planned to ‘hide body’ before staging fake robbery that fooled Greek cops
CAROLINE Crouch’s killer husband claimed he “panicked” and planned to hide her body before staging a fake robbery that fooled the Greek police.
Babis Anagnostopoulos, 33, finally confessed to strangling his wife to death in a fit of rage after she threatened to leave him and take their baby daughter Lydia.
Babis Anagnostopoulos is led away by cops after confessing over Caroline’s death[/caption]
Greek media reports Anagnostopoulos claimed “panicked” when he realised he had killed Brit mum Caroline, 20, after holding her down in bed as the couple were having a late night row.
He alleges he considered hiding her body before deciding to stage a violent robbery to try and fool the police at their home in Glyka Nera.
The helicopter pilot claims he decided to try fake the murder scene as he was motivated by the thought of their daughter growing up without parents.
“I thought of disappearing her body, but it was impossible for me to do so. Just looking at her, I cried,” Anagnostopoulos said, reports Protothema.
“The next thing I thought was to say that someone else did. I would tell the police that robbers entered the house.
It comes as…
- Caroline’s husband confessed to killing his wife after she “vowed to leave with their baby.”
- He was described as a “top actor” as he hugged Caroline’s mum at her funeral
- Timeline reveals Caroline fought her husband for ten minutes after her pulse stopped
- There were five clues that exposed the killer husband- from the fitness tracker to Caroline’s pulse monitor
- An expert revealed the body language signs that exposed the killer’s lies
“I was in a panic. I did not know what to do.”
And he even admitted that he killed the couple’s dog in bid to make the scene look more convincing as he thought “no one would have thought I could harm the dog”.
Anagnostopoulos reportedly said he hung the dog with its own leash over the railings of the stairs before setting Lydia next to Caroline’s body and tying his own feet up.
He is attempting to shift blame to Caroline over her death, alleging she was “aggressive” and claiming “you cannot imagine my love for this girl”.
Caroline’s heartbreaking diary however reveals she was considering leaving her husband even before she fell pregnant – with entries dating back to 2019 revealing arguments and physical abuse.
Police tape outside their maisonette home in Greece[/caption]
Police enter the property which Babis ransacked to try and fool police[/caption]
Caroline had allegedly messaged a pal on the night of her death, telling them she was leaving Babis.
He initially told police that a gang of Albanian criminals had broken into the couple’s home on May 11.
Police have described him as a “top-class actor” as he was pretending to be devastated by his wife’s death for 38 days.
Cops travelled to the island of Alonnisos where a memorial service for Caroline took place and asked him to follow them in order to give new testimony about the murder probe.
Babis reportedly begged them to allow him to visit her grave before being taken to Athens.
After an interrogation of eight hours, he admitted he staged the burglary to “keep custody of their baby daughter.”
Babis and Caroline had been married since July 2019[/caption]
Greek police was able to see through his lies after examining the couple’s smart devices.
An app on the pilot’s phone designed to count his steps revealed repeated movement from the attic to the basement of the home at the time he claimed to be tied and blindfolded.
Additionally Caroline’s biometric watch showed heart had stopped beating hours before the time Babis claimed she must have been murdered.
It has emerged that the brave Brit fought her husband for ten minutes before her pulse stopped.
His timeline of events was further discredited when police discovered the memory card in the security camera of the maisonette the couple shared had been removed at 1:20am.
He reportedly told cops his “judgement became blurred” after rowing with Caroline in the hours leading up to her death.
“I did not want to go to prison, because I wanted to raise my daughter,” the the pilot was said to have told detectives.
But it seems he calculated his next moves after police revealed it was Babis who removed the memory card in the security camera of the maisonette the couple shared.
In the final recorded moments, he can be seen sitting on the couch cradling his 11-month-old daughter Lydia, while ferociously typing on his mobile phone at around 12.30am.
He was exchanging angry messages with Caroline, who was in the attic, with one calling the other “stupid”, officers revealed.
Just under an hour later, at 1.20am, Babis approached the recording device in the living room and removed the memory card – proving it was not destroyed by the alleged robbers on their way in as he had previously claimed.
The pair continued to viciously argue over text for another two hours and 40 minutes, the publication reported.
Caroline and Babis had an 11-month-old daughter, Lydia[/caption]
HOW YOU CAN GET HELP:
Women’s Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – messageinfo@supportline.org.uk.
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service – available every day from 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247
At 4.01am, Caroline’s biometric watch that she wore on her wrist recorded an intense pulse stimulation.
It was at that moment that Babis began attacking his wife, in front of their infant daughter, as Caroline struggled against the man 13 years her senior.
The brave Brit then fought against him for a further ten minutes, until her watch recorded that her heart had stopped beating at 4.11am in the morning.
Babis then sickeningly placed their daughter next to her late mother in a bid to create a more convincing crime scene, police said.
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Caroline died hours before the time Babis suggested she must have been murdered, allowing him time to stage the robbery by throwing clothes and ransacking the house.
Data from her phone also showed that the young mum had tried to book herself into a hotel with her daughter, detectives said.
Other important evidence that disrupted his timeline of the alleged botched robbery includes an app on Babis’ phone that measured his steps, which showed repeated movement at the time he claimed to be bound by the raiders.
The 11-month old girl is currently believed to be staying with Anagnostopoulos’ architect father and teacher mother – but prosecutors reportedly are looking to find her a new home.
