The two 28 year olds arrested in Thessaloniki on 30 October for the murder of Stavros Demosthenous on 17 October have been back in Cyprus since yesterday morning. After the completion of procedures and searches in Greece, officers from Limassol CID and other branches travelled to Thessaloniki and escorted the suspects to Cyprus.
The investigative team will now proceed to question the two men, seeking answers about their alleged involvement. For police, the return of the two cousins effectively completes the puzzle of the case, which they consider largely solved. An eight day remand request is expected to be brought before the court today, after which the case will be formally filed.
The suspects are two 28 year old cousins, Greek nationals of Georgian origin. A third suspect, a 31 year old cousin of one and childhood friend of the other, is already being held on remand at the Central Prisons. He is believed to have assisted one of the 28 year olds in fleeing to Thessaloniki via the occupied areas and Turkey. When the two were arrested in Thessaloniki, police also located the 31 year old’s vehicle there.
For investigators, the involvement of the two 28 year olds is considered crucial. Evidence and testimony collected so far place them not merely as accomplices but as key figures with active roles in the killing. Ongoing examinations, including DNA analysis, are expected to clarify their exact roles and the degree of involvement of all six defendants currently held in the Central Prisons.
How they became linked to the case
Police traced the two suspects through CCTV footage, identifying vehicles associated with them that appear in the route taken by the perpetrators after abandoning the motorcycle in the Agios Tychonas area.
The case advanced further after credible information reached police from an associate of one of the 28 year olds, indicating his involvement as the motorcycle driver immediately after the murder of Demosthenous. According to this account, he acted in return for payment.
Additional information from the same anonymous source also implicates the second 28 year old. He is said to have spoken to a third person four to five days after the murder, describing his role as the motorcycle driver and saying that from Agios Tychonas he and the gunman were helped to flee by his cousin.
The informant also relayed the concerns the suspect expressed at the time, after realising that police had recovered both the motorcycle and the cap he had been wearing.