Expert unsure whether Orestis acted alone

Private forensic pathologist Marios Matsakis has raised a number of questions following the discovery of a third suitcase at the red lake, including whether the alleged serial killer acted alone.

According to SigmaLive, Matsakis believes it is still not known whether alleged serial killer Nikos Metaxas acted alone in the seven murders he reportedly admitted to authorities.

Divers recovered a third suitcase on Tuesday from the bottom of the Red Lake in rural Nicosia, with officials speculating the decomposed body inside may belong to 29-year-old slain Filipina Maricar Valdez Arquiola.

Metaxas, a 35-year-old Greek Cypriot army captain also known as Orestis, reportedly told investigators he dumped Maricar’s body inside a suitcase, along with weights to hold it down.

Officials said they found concrete pavers inside the suitcase, which were placed in order to hold the weight down. Reports said divers described the suitcase as a very heavy object, which they found just beneath the mud by touch.

But Matsakis, an outspoken critic, pointed out that the suitcase’s heavy weight ought to raise the question whether the alleged serial killer acted alone in at least carrying the body to its watery grave.

Police have charged only one suspect in the case so far, while two other male suspects who had been arrested prior to Orestis were set free and all charges against them were dropped. No other suspects have been named in the case, while investigators are sifting through the over 600 statements obtained during the course of the investigastion.

The two initial suspects included one of the slain victim’s former boyfriend with whom she also had a child, 6-year-old Sierra who is still missing. Her mother’s body was discovered by chance in mid-April, marking the beginning of a shocking and unprecedented serial killer case for Cyprus. The second suspect was a fellow military man, whose photo Orestis had used on his social media profile. Police said he acted suspiciously after being asked various questions including about his laptop.

Matsakis also pointed out that the search for Sierra at the bottom of Memi Lake in rural Nicosia is made more difficult due to the fact that the body is believed to have been dumped straight into the water without being encased, adding that the search could take months.

The forensic pathologist had also warned previously that the search at the red lake should have been handled differently, calling for the toxic water to be drained out so that police could know for a fact everything that was ever dumped there.

Red Lake search officially over

But fire department’s operations chief Marcos Trangolas declared the search at the red lake search as complete, adding that all focus was now in Memi lake in search for the little girl.

Matsakis also reiterated his criticism over the police calling on forensic pathologists from overseas to assist in high profile cases, saying he did not understand why four government experts can testify in court but their work “apparently is not reliable” unless it has to do with “simple cases such as road accidents and deaths caused by medical issues.”

The forensic pathologist also wondered why it was taking so long to identify all the bodies in such an important case.