The Greek helicopter pilot sentenced to life in prison for the brutal murder of his British wife in Athens last year claims to live in fear of those he initially blamed for the crime.
Weeks after he was found guilty of drowning Caroline Crouch, Babis Anagnostopoulos has said his own life is in danger because he has become the target of a “contract murder.”
In a letter arguing that he should remain in the capital’s Korydallos maximum security prison, the 34-year-old man said he had learned of fellow inmates offering him “a large sum of money” for his life. “From the above, it has been discovered that there is a ‘contract murder’ against me,” he told Greek television channel Star on Saturday.
The horrific way in which Crouch, 20, was killed while falling asleep in the couple’s suburban home, meters away from his daughter, caused shock waves in Greece. In a rare step, the government announced a reward of 300,000 euros for digging up the perpetrators.
For 37 days, Anagnostopoulos presented herself as a heartbroken widow, fixing the murder on ruthless “Albanian or Georgian thieves” who had entered the house.
The cover-up, which included strangling Caroline’s pet dog, was exposed only when expert analysis of the British man’s smartwatch and Greek pilot’s mobile phone data revealed inconsistencies in his own version. of the facts.
However, although he eventually admitted to killing his wife, the suspects were subjected to grueling interrogations after the UK-trained airman reportedly identified her in the police ranks.
One, a 43-year-old Georgian man accused of belonging to a criminal gang behind similar robberies in the area, described how he had endured four days of torture by Greek police officers determined to extract a confession from him.
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Following his transfer to Malandrinos Prison in the central Greek region of Fokida on Monday, the pilot’s lawyer, Alexandros Papaioannidis, told the Observer that there was no doubt that his client’s life was in danger.
“He would be much safer in Korydallos,” the lawyer said, adding that Anagnostopoulos had been threatened by a Georgian prisoner who wanted to kill him in January.
“The conditions in Malandrinos are very difficult. The vast majority of inmates are foreigners and are hard criminals. We have requested that he be returned to Korydallos for humanitarian and security reasons. “
During a six-week trial in a mixed court in Athens, Anagnostopoulos, who has been quick to appeal against his life sentence, was repeatedly described as a narcissist and a controller.
Psychiatrist Alchestis Igoumenakis, who was among the defense witnesses, said it was clear that the defendant was suffering from a severe antisocial personality disorder that had not only left him with feelings of superiority and an inability to empathize but also ‘had been able to commit similar crimes.
Following the court’s verdict, the Crouch family’s attorney, Thanassis Haramanis, said that while Caroline’s distressed parents had reason to feel vindicated, it was clear that Anagnostopoulos, who went to court during a marathon of ten hours, he felt little remorse for his actions.
Forensics have described the Briton’s death as agonizing, saying it required more than five minutes of sustained suffocation by her husband to “exhaust her life”.
Last week, the convicted killer admitted that he had ambitions of being a lawyer, and told prison authorities he wanted to take the exams to enter law school.