Crime scene visit in double murder trial

The Strovolos double murder trial continues on Wednesday with a visit to the crime scene, following weeks of contested evidence in court.

According to media reports, the three judges in the criminal case - Haris Poyiadjis, Yiota Kyriakidou and Fani Kapetaniou - along with trial prosecutors, defence attorneys and their clients, were scheduled Wednesday morning to visit the crime scene in Strovolos where the double murder took place.

The crime scene visit follows a request by Andreas Anastasiou, one of the defence lawyers in the case. Earlier reports in the media in the initial days of the investigation quoted law enforcement officials who said the crime scene was tainted.

On April 18, a married couple, 60-year-old Yiorgos Hadjigeorgiou and his 59-year-old wife Dina Sergiou, were savagely stabbed to death on Zalongou Street, Strovolos, in Nicosia.

The four defendants, 33-year-old main suspect Loizos Tzionis, his 21-year-old girlfriend Sara Sians, Tzionis’ 23-year-old half brother Lefteris Solomou, and another 22-year-old male, Marios Hadjixenofondos, all have denied multiple charges including murder.

Last week, Tzionis’ defence lawyer questioned the legality of a notebook which was found in a vehicle that belonged to his client’s grandfather, saying no search warrant was issued ahead of time. But the court found that it would have been impractical for investigators, who already searched the vehicle a week earlier, to obtain a new warrant as the vehicle was impounded at the station.

It was not immediately clear whether the vehicle was being held for further searches or if it was due to be returned to its rightful owner after the initial search.

The notes were discovered during a secondary inspection of the vehicle following statements made by Tzionis, according to the crime investigators in the case. A prosecution witness presented two notebooks with 94 and 86 pages. Some of the notes were allegedly written by Tzionis and co-defendant Siams, while handwriting on other pages did not seem to be attributed to either of the two suspects according to testimony heard previously in court.