Police vague over clues in downtown deaths

Police continue to search for clues in connection with the death of two foreign nationals in downtown Nicosia on Sunday, with investigators not ruling out double murder or murder-suicide.

The bodies of a 46-year-old female from Vietnam and a 64-year-old male from Romania were found in an old Nicosia flat on Sunday early evening, after police officers responded to a noise complaint and ended up breaching the door to gain entry into the apartment.

Deputy Chief of Operations Demetris Demetriou said upon entering the apartment, the officers first discovered the female body in one room and later found the male body in another room.

Both the man and the woman had signs of multiple knife injuries, while local media said the woman also had knife wounds in the neck and the man was found on the floor with a knife in his hand. 

A bouquet of flowers had been found next to the woman’s body, according to local media reports, with police declining to confirm or deny except to say a number of items found at the scene were key in understanding the circumstances under which the incident had occurred.

State media said a second knife had been found in the apartment while police said investigators were waiting on forensic tests and post mortems scheduled to take place on Monday.

Investigators were also trying to learn about the relationship between the man and the woman, while they did not rule out a third person might have been involved.

Police spokesperson Christos Andreou said it was too early to reach safe conclusions, adding that investigators were trying to put piece things together and ascertain whether a third person may have been involved.

“At this time, we are at the very early stages of the investigation with a thorough examination still taking place at the scene, and so all possible scenarios are being considered,” Andreou said.

Four state forensic pathologists are involved in the case according to local media, with reports saying Nicolas Charalambous, Sofoclis Sofocleous, Angeliki Papetta and Orthodoxos Orthodoxou were all seen Sunday afternoon conversing with police at the scene.