Newsroom
The Strovolos double murder trial has been pushed back following a hold up with the lawyer of one of the suspects who said charges against his client were not clear.
The four suspects in the case appeared before the Criminal Court in Nicosia on Wednesday for the start of the trial in the Strovolos double murder, with the hearing only lasting 30 minutes.
Loizos Tzionis, the 33-year-old main suspect, recently changed his plea to not guilty, while his 21-year-old girlfriend Sara Siams, and two other co-defendants, his 23-year-old half brother Lefteris Solomou and 22-year-old Marios Hadjixenofondos, had pleaded not guilty from the beginning to all charges including murder and burglary.
All suspects were arrested following the murder of a married couple in Strovolos, 60-year-old Yiorgos Hadjigeorgiou and his 59-year-old wife Dina Sergiou, who were found savagely stabbed to death in the bedroom of their own home on April 18.
Siams’ lawyer is seeking from the court to dismiss all charges against his client except burglary, arguing it is not clear in what way other charges implicate his client in the murder
But Siams’ lawyer hinted on Monday that he would seek from the court to dismiss all charges against his client except burglary, arguing it was not clear in what way the other charges were implicating his client in the murder.
Reports said a number of texts were exchanged prior to Monday’s hearing, which was deferred to Wednesday, suggesting a change in the charges against her is still under consideration.
The judge said he would rule on Siams’ request on Friday, when defence and prosecution will also make statements to establish facts in the case and a common witness list.
Previous reports on preliminary court hearings suggested Siams had struck a deal with prosecutors if she were to testify against Tzionis, but no further details were made known to the public with prosecutors saying “there had been no deals.”
The main suspect had since changed his plea to ‘not guilty’ on all charges, while initially he only pleaded not guilty to burglary charges, saying the house was open.
This has made the work of prosecutors more challenging as no direct physical evidence has linked the suspect to the actual murder. Investigators have been relying on circumstantial evidence and statements to build the case so far.
