Three weeks have passed since the murder of 41-year-old Stavros Demosthenous on 17 October near his home in Limassol. Since then, police investigations have been ongoing at an intensive pace, with the aim of identifying and charging all those involved in the killing.
At present, six individuals are in custody - four in Cyprus and two in Thessaloniki. The two 28-year-olds arrested in Greece have been in custody for eight days and are expected to be transferred to Cyprus to face local procedures and, crucially, to be interrogated.
DNA sample given by 31-year-old suspect
Investigators from the Limassol CID appeared in court to obtain a DNA sample from a 31-year-old Georgian man currently in custody. Initially, the suspect refused to provide a sample, but following a court order, he complied, allowing police to proceed with DNA comparison and identification against evidence collected from the crime scenes and from various vehicles linked to the case.
The man was initially arrested as an accessory after the murder, as he allegedly helped one of the two 28-year-old suspects flee to Thessaloniki via the occupied areas and then Turkey. He was later rearrested after testimony indicated that he was responsible for arranging fake licence plates for one of the vehicles believed to be connected to the murder.
As previously reported by Politis, police suspect the 31-year-old to be the actual shooter in Demosthenous’ murder something expected to be confirmed once DNA and other forensic tests are completed.
Once the two suspects from Thessaloniki are transferred to Cyprus, DNA samples will also be taken from them, a development expected to be crucial in confirming their role in the case.
Convict’s detention extended
The Limassol District Court has extended the detention of a 30-year-old convict from the Central Prisons for another six days. With this decision, the remand of all four suspects currently held in Cyprus will expire next Thursday.
According to the police, the 30-year-old convict is believed to have given instructions from within the Central Prisonsfor the purchase of a motorcycle used in the case. Court documents state that he allegedly connected an intermediary with another suspect to transport the motorcycle to Larnaca for a €200 payment.
Testimony further indicates that another 30-year-old man from Nicosia, who was approached to carry out the transfer, eventually refused, realising that the job was “not for a good purpose”. He later received calls from a landline within the Central Prisons, allegedly from the imprisoned 30-year-old, but no further contact followed.
The court accepted the police’s request for the extension of the convict’s detention. His lawyer did not object to the request.