Gigolo murder suspect still in custody

The two suspects in the murder of a well-to-do mother of three in Limassol have been order to remain in custody, while local media say a person in Nicosia was questioned after it emerged that the murder suspect had sold stolen jewelry belonging to the victim.

According to local media, 29-year-old Lithuanian national Aistis Mikalauskas, along with another suspect aged 24, were ordered on Sunday to remain in remanded custody for another eight days, in connection with the brutal killing of Iryna Hurskaya, a 36-year-old woman from Belarus.

Police said there were only two arrests in the case so far, while local media over the weekend reported a third person in Nicosia had been detained for questioning over stolen jewelry.

According to local reports, Mikalauskas had been romantically involved with Hurskaya before she terminated the relationship over his serious gambling problem.

Investigators reportedly have learned that Mikalauskas had asked his alleged accomplice to break into Hurskaya’s home and render her unconscious, thus enabling to use her fingerprint to unlock her phone and transfer funds out of her account.

After the two suspects went to the home in Agios Tychonas, the victim’s teenage son heard something but thought it was noise coming from outside, according to local media.

But the boy’s alertness threw off the second suspect who managed to step out of the residence, leaving the main suspect behind in the bedroom with the victim.

Reports said Mikalauskas confessed to attacking Hurskaya, who was sleeping in the nude in her bed, striking her in the head and then, after realizing the victim was still conscious, the attacker put her in a deadly chokehold until she passed out.

According to Reporter, the main suspect stole pieces of jewelry from the home and quickly went to Nicosia, where he sold a Rolex watch worth €11,000 in exchange for 750 in cash. Reports said he later went back to the residence but left after setting the alarm off.

The individual who bought the watch is purported to have sold the Rolex to another individual for €3700, with additional information suggesting the watch exchanged hands once again at a higher price. 

Police told Knews no further arrests were made apart from the two suspects, while additional media reports said investigators have questioned at least one person of interest about the Rolex and determined it had ended up in a foreign country.

Local media said that according to the victim’s former husband, the murder suspect apparently used to befriend wealthy women. Mikalauskas reportedly also admitted to police that he had an uncontrollable gambling problem and had tried unsuccessfully to get help.

Hurskaya’s ex husband, who gave a deposition to police investigators, said there was roughly 40,000 grand withdrawn from the vcitim’s account over the last few months.