Started at the Court of Appeal the trial of Babis Anagnostopoulos, secondly, for murdering his wife, Caroline Crouchat their home in Glyka Nera in May 2021.

The man who took the dead Caroline’s baby in his arms, shortly after the crime in Sweet watersin May 2021, opened the cycle of testimony before the Mixed Jury Court of Appeal for the murder of the 20-year-old by her husband Babis Anagnostopoulos.

After three vacations, the trial of the 35-year-old pilot, who in the first instance has been sentenced to life and an additional 11.6 years in prison, for the murder of Caroline and the killing of their puppy, started today with the defense stating for the first time that it wants to examine six defense witnesses including the parents of the convicted, who had not attended the court in the first trial.

The defendant and his lawyer, Alexandros Papaioannidis, they pursue to achieve a more favorable verdict than the one the trial court unanimously issued a year ago, rejecting the pilot’s claim that the heinous crime was the result of heat, mental tension and that there was no premeditation.

After all, this was the statement made today by Babis Anagnostopoulos “married widower and father of a minor”, for the category attributed to him: “I accept the accusations, but not as described in the rationale of the first instance decision. There is an error. I am ashamed of these actions and in no way did I want to harm my wife. I had no benefit. Everything I loved was lost that day. I am ashamed of that moment and hate myself. I apologize to everyone,” said the pilot, when asked about his position on the accusation.

The defendant has requested that the MOE not give him trial days on the days of the pan-Hellenic exams, as he will participate with the aim of being admitted, according to information, to the Law School.

The hearing began with his testimony police officer Christos Vardikos who was the first to enter the house when Direct Action was notified of the alleged robbery, who testified to everything he saw at the crime scene. The witness also referred extensively to the defendant’s reactions when they found him tied up and untied him, characterizing the 35-year-old “not a good actor”, with reactions that did not match the moment. “We were impressed by his composure… there was a gentleness” he mentioned and emphasized that such was the overall picture of the alleged victim of the brutal robbery that, as soon as we went downstairs, my assistant said: “He did it. And we even mentioned this.” The police officer testified that the image of the baby next to the mother’s body shocked him: “I couldn’t even transmit on the wireless”he characteristically said.

“I was serving in Direct Action at the time. At around 6.15 in the morning we received a signal about a person calling for help” testified the Policeman and continued: “We immediately arrived at the scene because we were nearby. We saw a neighbor who was holding a phone and has it on speakerphone. We heard a male voice hoarsely shouting “help they are killing”. The neighbor took us to the back of the house and there was a window that looked like first image appeared to be compromised. When we saw that there is a possible break-in we informed the center and reinforcements came. In total there were five policemen at the scene. The four of us entered the house. In the basement there was nothing everything was fine. We went up to the ground floor where the kitchen and living room were. Going up I saw a fenced off area for pets and there was animal feces. Then at the beginning of the ground floor we saw the dog dead on the handrail of the stairs. We went up to the attic and saw the door ajar. There was a double bed. There was the woman lying face down with her head down. She appeared to be dead. On the left, bound hand and foot was the accused. His mouth and eyes were closed with brown tape.”

Chairman: Was there also the child?

Witness: Yes, on the bed with his hands on his mother. She was a baby, she wasn’t crying when we came in. He turned and looked at us.

Chairman: What condition was the victim in?

Witness: She was tied with a cloth and also tied around the neck with a cloth like she was strangled.

Chairman: Then what happened?

Witness: I took the baby in my arms. My colleagues freed the accused, who sat on the bed and began to caress the deceased saying “Caroline my love”. We told him to move away, because it was a crime scene. He asked for the baby, I gave it to him. Then he started to make some awkward movements… As if he was grieving with the baby in his arms. We politely took it from him and told him to leave because it was a crime scene. He told us that they were robbed by 3 men with pistols.

Chairman: Was the accused tightly bound?

Witness: From what I was informed by the colleague who solved it, the tape on the neck was tight from the nose and above it was loose. Going down we saw the animal hanging there. There was no reaction from the accused. As if he didn’t see it. It passed and never touched.

Chairman: From the moment you went out what happened?

Witness: Many strange things began there. We saw that there was no sign of tampering with the window, it was simply taken out. We were impressed by his composure. There was a gentleness… I would tell him to get a relative to take the baby for an examination and he would say “not yet, I will take it soon”. At my own prompting, I gave him my cell phone to call his parents. He insisted that he phoned in those moments with his nose.

Chairman: What version did he give you about his wife’s death?

Witness: He was telling us that because he was tied around the neck that he would pass out and wake up and he didn’t see what happened and that he didn’t know she was dead.

Chairman: So, the impression he gave you was that he was in a panic?

Witness: Yes. That he was in a panic, that they had been robbed and that he didn’t know his wife was dead. As soon as we got downstairs my assistant said, “He did it.” And we even mentioned this.

As the witness pointed out, “I was shocked by the image of the child. I couldn’t even transmit on the wireless. The defendant had a behavior that did not match the moment.”

Stating that the accused “he wasn’t a good actor” and that he was surprised by the 35-year-old’s composure, Mr. Vardikos also testified: “I didn’t want to accept it either, that he did it. At that moment I cursed my synod who said “he did it”..’ He even emphasized that Anagnostopoulos “didn’t even ask about the baby”.

Political Education: He was saying to her are you well my love, while she was dead? What does that tell you?

Witness: What does it say to me? Let’s not say it here in court, let the experts say it.

Defense: Did you see a well-staged set inside the house or a rough one?

Witness: It was staged. There may have been sloppiness, lack of experience. I won’t say if it was good or bad, I will say that it was lame, stupidly directed.

The second police officer Cleanthis Antonopoulos who had rushed with Mr. Vardikos to the couple’s maisonette in Glyka Nera testified among other things: “..We went upstairs and I see the dog hanging, I say it and my hair stands on end. We heard a muffled voice calling for help. He sounded like a big man. Entering the attic I see the baby looking me in the eyes with calmness. He rested his hands on his mother’s lifeless body. I was impressed that they left it on the bed and that 2.5 hours later it hadn’t fallen off it. I saw the accused tied with string and tape. I asked for a knife and started to untie him…”

The witness emphasized that the perpetrator had put the insulating tape upside down “not with the glue in the eyes, the other way around. Apparently so as not to damage the eyes. The hand and foot binding had a looseness to it. As soon as he gets up, he goes to his wife, puts her on the shoulder and says “my love”, if I remember correctly.. She was frozen. She was loosely bound with a garment. I was also impressed by this, that the victim was tied with clothing and the accused with string. The defendant went to the victim once and then did not engage again, at all. When my colleague told him “it is done” he had no reaction. He was telling us that three people came in with a gun. He also described the make of the gun to us, which in my 20 years of service has never been done. He told us that he was not killed because he was cool and that Caroline was screaming and trying to fight back. Not once did he say “I’m ruined, what happened?”. I also told Homicide when I went to testify, that he did it,” said the witness, adding that Homicide had no evidence at the time. I was told “better a guilty man out, than an innocent man in prison”.

The trial continues.