Demosthenous murder trial continues before Limassol criminal court
The trial into the murder of Limassol businessman Stavros Demosthenous will continue on Thursday with the six defendants expected appear before the Limassol criminal court under tight security measures on Thursday.
The defendants, two of whom are aged 28, two of whom are aged 30, one of whom is aged 31, and the other is aged 51, face a series of charges, including premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit a felony, conspiracy to commit murder, arson of a vehicle, the illegal possession, transportation and use of a firearm, the use of explosives and vehicle theft.
One of the 30-year-olds is suspected of involvement in the purchase and sale of the motorcycle used by the perpetrators to flee the scene after Demosthenous was shot in his car.
The second 30-year-old, who is currently serving a prison sentence after being sentenced in a separate case, is alleged to have given instructions from the central prison for the purchase of the motorcycle.
Meanwhile, DNA evidence belonging to the 52-year-old defendant was found inside the stolen vehicle which investigators believe was used to track Demosthenous prior to the murder.
The 31-year-old defendant is accused of driving the van from which the fatal shots were fired.
He was initially arrested on suspicion of complicity in the murder, as police believed he assisted one of the two 28-year-old suspects to flee Cyprus to Greece via the north.
During course of the investigation, he was re-arrested on additional charges and is now alleged to have ordered counterfeit registration plates for the stolen vehicle used in the crime. His DNA was also found on a hat which fell from one of the perpetrators during their escape on the motorcycle.
The two 28-year-old suspects, who are cousins, were arrested on a European arrest warrant by Greek authorities in Thessaloniki in November last year.
One of them is believed to have fired the fatal shots at Demosthenous, while the other allegedly assisted the perpetrators using an SUV after they abandoned the motorcycle.
Stavros Demosthenous was most well-known for serving as chairman of second division football club Karmiotissa FC, and was shot while riding in the passenger seat of a car being driven by his 18-year-old son in October last year.
Then police spokeswoman Kyriaki Lambrianidou had said that the shooting “took place about 500 metres from the victim’s home”, and that “initial information suggests that the victim was shot from a vehicle travelling in front of them”.
After the shooting, Demosthenous’ son immediately drove towards the hospital but crashed on the motorway. He then flagged a car down to stop and asked the driver to take them to hospital.
Demosthenous was taken to the Limassol general hospital, where he was pronounced dead. His son was not physically harmed during the incident.
Police investigations have so far revealed that the bullets that killed Demosthenous were probably fired from a van which was driving in front of his son’s car.
The van was later found to have been set on fire, while a motorcycle, which is believed to also have been used in the killing, was found abandoned in the Limassol area.