The trial of a Greek pilot accused of strangling his young British-Greek wife last year in front of their infant and trying to cover it up as a robbery, began in an Athens court on Friday April 8, Reuters reports.
The husband arrived at the courthouse from a high security prison where he is being detained, escorted by six masked police officers in bullet-proof vests.
The parents of the wife, whose father is from Liverpool, England, and who live on Alonissos island, did not attend the trial for health reasons, the family lawyer told Greek media.
The court was adjourned for April 12 a few hours later due to other court obligations by the accused's lawyers, Greek media said.
In a case that had gripped the country, the helicopter pilot, then 33, claimed three robbers had broken into their Athens home in May 2021, tied him up, and killed his wife and the family dog.
When police arrived they found his 20-year old wife lying dead next to their 11-month old daughter, and the dog hanging from the banister. The husband had claimed the intruders took money and jewellery and that he managed to call the police on his mobile phone after they left. But evidence collected by police and inconsistencies in his testimony led them to the husband, and he was detained for further questioning a month later while attending his wife’s memorial service on Alonissos island, where she grew up.
After several hours of interrogation he confessed to the killing.
The husband faces charges of intentional homicide, animal abuse, false testimony and false accusations, police said.
His legal team has said the pilot would claim his actions were not premeditated but that he had acted in a fit of rage.
Every step of the highly publicized case, from police searching for the robbers and even offering a reward for information, to the husband’s confession, had been covered by the media in detail. The case also highlighted a string of female murders by husbands or spouses last year in Greece. The child now lives with her grandparents on Alonissos.
