Suspect admits killing woman in rural Nicosia

Police had a breakthrough in the rural Nicosia murder, with the main suspect admitting to investigators that he killed Yiannoula Hadjiyianni outside her village ten days ago.

On Wednesday morning, the 40-year-old male suspect from Georgia appeared before a Nicosia District Court judge where he was expected to be re-remanded in custody pending a police investigation in the murder of 56-year-old Yianoula Hadjiyianni.

Hadjiyianni was brutally stabbed to death on November 12 inside her own car, just outside her Oikos village in Marathasa. Money was also stolen from her vehicle with an eyewitness telling police she had seen the whole thing but couldn’t do anything to stop it.

The suspect had initially denied any involvement in the murder but prosecutors told the judge on Wednesday that the suspect made a voluntary confession while in custody and admitted to killing Hadjiyianni. He also visited the crime scene, the court heard, where he demonstrated facts in the case, telling cops he took the money after killing the victim and threw a bag with clothes inside a recycling bin.

The man, father of three, is facing charges of premeditated murder and robbery, while prosecutors will also go after him for possession of a knife and illegal property.

Hadjiyianni, single mother of two, worked as a store manager at a grocery store in nearby Kalopanayiotis. She was driving home for her lunch break when she was flagged down by the suspect, who was an acquaintance, asking to get a ride in the back seat. Another female passenger in the front got off moments before the suspect murdered his victim, just outside Oikos village.

The investigation is ongoing with investigators obtaining dozens of statements so far in the case. They have also requested phone records from both the victim and the confessed killer.