Contract killings in Cyprus

24news.com.cy

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In recent years in Cyprus, crime has increased significantly, while savage killings tend to become commonplace. Among them are several ambushes of death in persons associated with the "night".

After the crime, there were many times when the Police, despite all the investigations, never found traces of the perpetrators,resulting in the cases filed away remaining unsolved. The fact is that the authorities believe that the murderous "beatings" were carried out by professional executors who arrived on our island from abroad with the sole purpose of carrying out the death contract assigned to them.

On the occasion of the arrest of a 38-year-old foreigner who seems to have arrived in Cyprus to execute a death contract against another foreign businessman operating in Cyprus, 24news presents cases of murders committed on our island in recent years, with most of them remain unsolvede to this day.

June 23, 2012:

One of the crimes that shocked the Cypriot community was the five-peron murder committed in Ayia Napa at 3:30 in the early hours of June 23, 2012, where the target was Fanos Kalopsidiotis.

The businessman's luxury vehicle was moving on Katalimaton Street in the center of Ayia Napa and his five security guards were riding in it, but not himself. The perpetrators of the attack opened fire on the vehicle as it was moving.

Giorgos Georgiou, otherwise known as "Satanas", 35 years old from Paralimni, father of three children, Filippos Loukaidis, 33 years old from Nicosia, Marios Karaolis, 28 years old, also from Nicosia, as well as two people from Romania, were killed by bullets.

The death of the three occupants was instantaneous. The other two victims succumbed to their injuries during their transport to Famagusta hospital. The gangster execution was attributed to a clearing of accounts.

It is worth mentioning that immediately after the bloodshed, the scene was surrounded by tourists, who in a state of shock, wondered what happened.

The Greeks, Dimitris Mamalikopoulos and Anastasios Tsechilidis, were arrested by the Police as suspects in the case. The Permanent Criminal Court imposed on them the largest sentence ever imposed in the Cypriot court records until then: five life sentences, one for each victim of the bloody attack.

It was revealed in court that Mamalikopoulos was the executor of the five guards and was known to the Greek authorities for his participation in anti-authoritarian circles in Athens. His accomplice is Tsechilidis.

June 23, 2016:

Mass murder in the center of Ayia Napa, shocked the public. One of the two perpetrators was killed while the other disappeared.

The target was the businessman, Fanos Kalopsidiotis.

The businessman, when he was shot, was sitting in a tavern together with the couple Hadjiefthymiou and their children.

The two executors shot at close range and managed to kill the businessman, police officer Elias and his wife Skevi Hadjiefthymiou.

Also, during the shooting, one of the two executors, Yani Vogli, is killed. The second, Alex Burrelli, remains to this day in the list of wanted persons by the Cypriot Police and Interpol.

Six people were sentenced to prison for the quadruple murder case: The owner of a nightclub in Ayia Napa, Panagiotis Pentafkas, the security guard of the murdered Fanos Kalopsidiotis, Loy Dejan, Marios Christodoulou, also known as Benis Benis. Also, Charalambos Andreou, 32 years old and Sotira Neophytou, 30 years old.

The first three were sentenced to four life sentences, while Sofia Grigoriou was sentenced to 12 months in prison.

The Permanent Criminal Court of Larnaca - Famagusta imposed a life sentence on Charalambos Andreou, 32, who pleaded guilty to the 20 charges he faced and included, among others, the murder of Fanos Theofanos Kalopsidiotis, Elias and Skeviou Hatzi Yestzili and Skeviou Hatzi.

Sotira Neophytou, Andreos's partner, was sentenced to five months in prison, after being found guilty, on her own admission, of conspiracy to commit a criminal offense.

April 12, 2017:

The 61-year-old -then- businessman, Andros Rodotheou, is killed in a summer house in Gerasa.

The victim was with other people at the cottage and was helping. Around 21:00 at night and while the victim was near a sliding glass window of the house, he received a number of gunshots, in front of the eyes of the other three persons.

"There is a large number of gunshots and we are examining whether the perpetrators were more than one," said in a statement the then head of TAE Limassol, Mr. Ioannis Sotiriadis, adding that "according to the data so far, it seems that the shootings they come from the northwest, from the opposite bank of the river ".

The perpetrators managed to kill the victim with only one bullet, acting in the dark and from a long distance without leaving a single shell behind.

It is noted that other shots were fired by the perpetrators, for purposes of intimidation. Rodotheos's death came from a bullet that hit him from behind, specifically in the spine.

Although the location from which the victim was shot was located, the perpetrator or perpetrators managed to leave no trace behind them, indicating that they were well trained.

The perpetrators managed to disappear into the darkness and to this day, they have never been located despite any investigations by the authorities.

The case remains unsolved to this day.

November 1, 2018:

On the night of November 1, Christodoulos's vehicle was located by the Police, immobilized one kilometer before the Ayia Napa roundabout, with its engine and lights on.

Police investigations revealed that the driver's door window was shattered by a shot and that there was a bullet nailed to the passenger seat.

After investigations in the surrounding area, the Police located Christodoulou dead shortly before midnight in a bushy area on the opposite side of the highway, with two shots to the head.

Christodoulou, a French passport holder, lived in Ayia Napa and was known to the Drug Prosecution Service for drug possession, use and trafficking cases.

Police investigations revealed that Christodoulou got out of his car after the first shot and ran away, however, the perpetrators chased him and managed to kill him with two bullets in the head and two in the upper part of his body. .

The police had initially arrested people, but then they were released.

The case remains unsolved to this day.

June 25, 2020:

The 29-year-old Panagiotis Kallitsionis, otherwiseknown as Valentinos, was killed from gunshots of strangers, on the night of Thursday, June 25, outside his paternal residence, in Ormidia, Larnaca province.

According to the Police, around 23:11 on the night of June 25, information was received at the Famagusta KEM that shots were fired in Ormidia and one person was injured.

Members of the TAE and the Famagusta Police Department, the Xylofagos, Xylotympos Police Stations and the security supervisor went to the scene, while investigations revealed that at around 22:55 a 29-year-old private security guard was wounded by a firearm in his father's home.

Ambulances from the British Bases and the Police went to the spot, members of which provided the 29-year-old with first aid, but to no avail after he succumbed to his injuries.

At first light the next day, the authorities returned to the crime scene to continue the investigation into the murder of Panagiotis Kallitsionis.

Investigations carried out at the scene of the murder by the Police, were located at a distance of 17 meters from the victim and among trees, three shot hunting cartridges with a caliber of 12 cm. East of the cartridges, the escape point of the perpetrator (s) also appears to have been located.

Specifically, shoe prints were found that reach a bushy area northeast of the house and end on a dirt road that leads to a large rural area. Where the last shoe footprint is located.  Authorities appear to have found footprints of a motorcycle tire, both front and rear wheel.

We remind you that the Police have obtained testimonies that state that after the commission of the criminal act, a large-capacity motorcycle was heard leaving the spot at breakneck speed.

The 29-year-old died due to hemorrhagic shock and internal bleeding, caused by a machine gun. The fatal injuries were on the right side of his body.

As part of the investigation to identify perpetrators and motives behind the brutal murder of Panagiotis Kallitsionis and after evaluating information, the authorities proceeded to arrest two Greek Cypriots who, while being brought to justice, were finally released after their testimony was presented.

The case remains unsolved.

April 19, 2021:

A 34-year-old Greek Cypriot man was shot dead on Monday night (19/4) on the Meneou-Kiti road in Larnaca, riding in his luxury Lamborghini vehicle that he had just received from Nicosia a few hours ago. This is Marios Georgiou, otherwise known as "Mariothkias".

A person who was well known to the authorities, after dealing with various cases, while he had also been convicted of a drug case in which he later testified as a prosecution witness.

The police were informed by a citizen that around 21:15 in the evening, they located the victim of the attack inside his vehicle, who was wounded by gunfire, and immediately at the spot, strong police forces rushed to the scene for examination.

The perpetrator or perpetrators, according to the data, are said to have had a well-planned deadly attack and to have known the victim's movements. This can be seen from the fact that the 34-year-old was gassed when he was returning home from the gym, on a route that he followed. The perpetrator or perpetrators even seemed to know the details of the street and the area. They managed to shoot and kill Georgiou when he arrived in the vehicle he was driving at a point on the road where there was a curvature and he had to slow down.

The perpetrators seem to have been hiding behind cypress trees in the area and after shooting, they disappeared into the dark. The possibility that they escaped from the spot on a motorcycle is being investigated.

According to the findings of the autopsy performed on the body of the 34-year-old, his death was due to a craniocerebral injury, multiple injuries to the body and vital organs from a firearm. The victim was hit by three bullets, one in the temple, one in the left hand and one in the right hand, which also hit vital organs. The death of the 34-year-old was instantaneous.

The police, from the first moment, attributed the criminal act to a clearing of accounts, however, until Wednesday, April 21, there was no testimony against a person associated with the case and therefore no arrest.

Authorities had recently investigated information that reached them and reported that the 34-year-old was the target of a criminal act, with him even expressing fears for his life. Police also found weapons and explosives in an open area in Larnaca last January, which according to information received were to be used to remove the "Mariothkias".

All the information collected from the scene where Marios Georgiou fell dead led to the conclusion that the criminal act against him was committed by professional executors, however, they have not been located.

The case remains unsolved.