An abusive husband has confessed to brutally killing his wife in front of their innocent 11-month-old baby in May, after initially concocting a convoluted story of thieves and home invaders tying him to a chair as they murdered his wife.
The story broke headlines on May 11, as it emerged that a young British mother was heinously murdered in Greece during a home invasion, after thieves tied up her husband and hanged their family dog, reported Latin Times.
Babis Anagnostopoulos, a 32-year-old helicopter pilot, claimed that at least three men wearing hoods forcibly entered their home and mobbed him before tying him to a chair in their living room around 5 a.m. May 11, Proto Thema reported.
Caroline Crouch, 20, was found dead at the scene after reportedly being tortured and strangled to death in the attic of their house in the Athens neighborhood of Glyka Nera.
Anagnostopoulos, racked with guilt, has confessed to completely fabricating the ordeal to clear himself of murdering Crouch in cold blood after a heated argument, the Guardian reported.
The pilot was reportedly attending a memorial service for his wife on the island of Alonissos when police seized him. He was escorted by a homicide division group back to the Attica Police Headquarters in Athens on Thursday.
Law enforcement confirmed that Anagnostopoulus confessed to the crime earlier this week.
During initial questioning, the suspect recounted how three unidentified men broke into their house early morning on May 11. The assailants allegedly managed to overpower him and bind him to a chair in the home's living room.
He further narrated that the perpetrators then headed upstairs to look for valuables where they found Crouch hiding in the attic with her newborn. Anagnostopoulos claimed to hear the suspects proceeding to threaten and torture the victim to get her to reveal where the family hid their cash and jewelry.
By the time he reportedly managed to untie himself and alert authorities, Crouch was already badly beaten and strangled beside her wailing newborn daughter. The family's dog was reportedly also killed as the burglars strangled and hanged the pet by its neck on the railings of the couple's two-story house.
However, the husband has admitted to investigators that he killed Crouch after a tumultuous argument. Crouch reportedly threatened to leave him and bring their 11-month-old baby with her, the Greek Reporter noted.
“We had an argument that night. At one point, she threw the child inside the crib and told me to get up and leave the house. He pushed me and punched me. I blurred, I killed her, and then I staged the robbery,” Anagnostopoulos told investigators.
He also confessed to completely staging the house, as well as killing their family dog, to fake the supposed home invasion.
Police's suspicions grew after it came to light that Crouch was wearing a biometric watch at the time of the ordeal. The smartwatch's app reportedly reflected that the 20-year-old mother already had no recorded pulse during the time her husband claimed burglars first broke into their home.
The timing of the removal of the memory cards from the security cameras of the house was also put into question. Anagnostopoulos' also reportedly showed signs of “suspicious” activity recorded during the hours of the ordeal that he claimed he had been tied up and immobilized.
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