Greek pilot who killed British wife had a 'psychopathic personality'

Greek pilot who killed his British wife did not care about their child and demonstrated a psychopathic personality, psychiatrist says as murder trial resumes

• The expert witness, Alkistis Igoumenaki, testified before the court this morning
• She said defendant exhibited narcissistic and anti-social personality disorders
• Babis Anagnostopoulos, 33, is on trial for murdering spouse Caroline Crouch, 20
• The psychiatrist noted Anagnostopoulos’ ‘arrogance’ and ‘lack of empathy’

A psychiatrist has told a court in Athens where a Greek helicopter pilot is on trial for killing his young British-born wife that the defendant exhibits signs of both narcissistic and anti-social personality disorders.

The expert witness, Alkistis Igoumenaki, testified this morning that 33-year-old Babis Anagnostopoulos had a ‘psychopathic personality’ and a ‘lack of empathy’ for his 20-year-old spouse Caroline Crouch and their young daughter Lydia.

Anagnostopoulos is on trial for murdering Caroline and her pet dog Roxy – crimes he attempted to cover up with an elaborate burglary-gone-wrong ruse.

The trial resumed today after a three-week recess. 

Igoumenaki said: ‘[The defendant] has an absence of sentiment and empathy, but his mind is perfectly capable of understanding the wrongdoing he has done.

‘He suffers from a number of anti-social behaviour traits and is also a narcissist. But that is not an excuse for saying that he was not in control when he carried out his crimes.

The psychiatrist continued: ‘He killed his wife and the mother of his child without thinking how much the child would suffer from this loss, so the lack of empathy concerns the child as well. 

‘We see a man who does not think about the baby… All this contributes to a psychopathic personality.’

A psychiatrist has told a court in Athens where a Greek helicopter pilot (pictured) is on trial for killing his young British-born wife that the defendant exhibits signs of both narcissistic and anti-social personality disorders

A family photo of Anagnostopoulos, Caroline and their young daughter Lydia taken shortly before Caroline’s death

British national Caroline Crouch, 20, was strangled to death by helicopter pilot Babis Anagnostopolous, 33 (pictured)

Anagnostopoulos does not deny killing Caroline but insists that it was not premeditated and that it was a ‘crime of passion’ caused by her behaviour.

In addition to the murder of Caroline, Anagnostopoulos is also on trial for the murder of her pet dog Roxy and two counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Animal murder is now considered a prosecutable crime in Greece. 

Following the killings, he concocted an elaborate ruse that they were the result of a botched burglary.

He faces a possible 30-year sentence if convicted of murder at the Athens Mixed Jury court, where his case is being heard before three full-time judges and four jurors.

Igoumenaki later claimed that Anagnostopoulos’ personality meant he was unable to deal with rejection and posited he wanted to be ‘admired’ when he entered into a relationship with a much younger woman, highlighting the 13-year age gap between Caroline and her killer.

‘We see a quest for the admiration of others… Most of us in the world have experienced rejection and we know that emotion is bad. But fortunately this does not lead to murders,’ the psychiatrist decalred.

The trial resumed following a three-week break for the Greek Orthodox Easter and Anagnostopoulos was led into court surrounded by armed police officers.

He is expected to give evidence once the prosecution has completed its case, which has featured graphic testimony on how Anagnostopoulos carried out the crime and then concocted his story that it was committed by burglars.

Anagnostopoulos does not deny killing Caroline but insists that it was not premeditated and that it was a ‘crime of passion’ caused by her behaviour 

The couple began dating when Caroline was still a teenager. They married in Portugal in 2019 

Anagnostopoulos is led to court in Athens in April, surrounded by armed police officers

The court has already heard how Caroline’s body was discovered next to her then 11-month-old baby Lydia while Roxy’s hanging torso was the first thing police officers saw when they stormed the house they shared in an Athens suburb last May.

For more than a month, Anagnostopoulos played the ‘grieving husband’ and sobbed and cried at Caroline’s memorial service, where he hugged his baby and her mother Susan.

Anagnostopoulos’s defence is that he was ‘triggered’ into committing the crimes because Caroline ‘mistreated’ their baby on the night they argued and that he acted in ‘self-defence’ because of her martial arts skills.

The court also heard from a number of witnesses from an animal association which helped Caroline adopt her beloved dog Roxy.

Lawyer Evangelia Tsanopoulou, who is representing the dog said: ‘The killing of Roxy was the action of a cold-blooded hitman. He used the dog to help stage a scene that burglars had carried out the crime.

‘He killed the dog because he wanted to kill all that was associated with Caroline, who loved Roxy dearly. And he did this in the cruellest way by hanging her pet.

After suffocating Caroline as she slept, Anagnostopoulos then smothered puppy Roxy (pictured) and hanged the pup’s lifeless body on the banister of their first floor flat in Athens. Anagnostopoulos is also being charged with animal murder – something made possible following a new law introduced last year that forbids their unlawful killing

Believing he had got away with the elaborate cover up, Anagnostopoulos even asked her parents to shell out £3,500 – about 4,000 Euros – for her coffin (pictured) 

The court has already heard how Caroline expressed a desire to leave Anagnostopoulos because she felt ‘suffocated’ and ‘trapped’ by his controlling behaviour.

Eleni Mylonopoulou, who was providing couples counselling said at an earlier hearing: ‘The moment Babis would leave the room Caroline would tell me that she wanted to leave their marital home, take the baby and start all over again.

‘She felt controlled, suffocated and trapped by him. She wanted to go back to university and become a pastry chef. But he didn’t give her any freedom and she had no choice in how she lived her life.’

She added: ‘On paper, Caroline was in love with the idea of Babis but hated the person who he really was.’

The hearing continues.

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