Newsroom
Cypriot authorities have detained a 30-year-old inmate from the Central Prisons in connection with the killing of 49-year-old Stavros Demosthenous, a case investigators describe as being at a “critical juncture.”
Police sources say the prisoner is believed to have instructed another 30-year-old suspect, arrested earlier this week and now in eight-day custody, to buy the motorcycle allegedly used in the crime. That bike, investigators say, became the getaway vehicle before the assailants set fire to a van in Germasogeia and fled.
In the days following the October 17 shooting, police have taken four men into custody, three Cypriot nationals and one Greek citizen, as forensic tests and security footage continue to guide the inquiry.
A “professional” job that fell apart
What initially looked like a carefully orchestrated hit, a single, precise shot that struck only Demosthenous as his son stood nearby, now appears to have unraveled under the weight of small but costly errors.
The killers’ escape was hampered by a series of missteps: a police helicopter hovering above, surveillance cameras capturing key movements, and a collection of physical clues that have since become central to the investigation, among them, the abandoned motorcycle, a baseball cap, and a yellow shirt worn by one of the suspects.
Investigators believe the helicopter’s unexpected presence may have rattled the perpetrators, prompting them to ditch the motorcycle hastily in Ayios Tychonas without burning it as planned. The bike was recovered 24 hours later, concealed in tall grass but free of fire damage, a detail suggesting the plan was altered in panic. Forensic experts are now examining it for fingerprints and genetic material.
Equally telling is the baseball cap that fell from the motorcycle driver’s head as the suspects torched the getaway van in Germasogeia, an item police consider highly personal and potentially rich in DNA evidence.
Closed-circuit video from multiple points along the escape route has given investigators a clearer picture of the events before and after the shooting. One camera, in particular, captured the driver’s bright yellow shirt, a visual clue that helped officers trace the distinctive double-cabin pickup truck, with its unique exhaust and roof rack, back to a specific individual.
Each recovered fragment, from fibers to footage, has helped narrow the search, transforming what once appeared to be a textbook contract killing into a case built on the perpetrators’ own trail of mistakes.
