Suspect arrested over brutal murder of British mum in Greece
A suspect has been arrested over the brutal murder of Brit Caroline Crouch in Greece.
The Georgian man, 30, was picked up on the Bulgarian border for his possible role in the torture and killing of the mother, aged just 20, during a burglary of her home in Athens.
The unnamed man has been linked to another violent break-in near the house where Caroline was strangled to death in front of her 11-month-old daughter, Lydia.
DNA evidence reportedly placed the suspect at the scene of a burglary in Pikermi on March 7, in which an old couple and their cleaner were tied up by five men.
That property is just a 20-minute drive from where Caroline was killed while her husband Charalambos Anagnostopolous, also known as Babis, was bound and gagged.
The suspect was found with a fake passport during a routine traffic stop in the north-eastern town of Evros, before being arrested and brought to a local police station, local newspaper Vima reported.
It comes after Caroline’s husband helped investigators identify two guns carried by the armed burglars – a silver colt and black pistol.
Both are rarely seen in Greece and police believe tracing them could help track down Caroline’s killers.
Meanwhile Charalambos, a helicopter pilot, is set to be shown the mugshots of 30 men who could be behind the murder.
Police came up with the list after linking 12 similar break-ins around Athens over the past six months which involved dozens of well-known criminals.
Babis saw his wife’s killer when he leapt onto the bed in a bid to stop her screaming during the terrifying ordeal.
The assassin’s motorcycle balaclava is believed to have slipped off his face as he struggled with Caroline, who was a black belt kickboxer.
The killer is described as being tall, dark-skinned, overweight and under 30. Reports suggest the men could be part of an Albanian-led criminal gang.
A police source told Mega TV: ‘We suspect that three members of the gang went into the house and one member waited outside as a look-out.
‘We believe that the killer felt compelled to murder Caroline because she had seen his face and would identify him to police.
‘But they spared husband Babis because they thought he was unconscious and unable to see.’
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