Babis Anagnostopoulos, a Greek pilot who is accused of murdering his 20-year-old British wife Caroline Crouch and and killing their dog Roxy, will appear in court in Athens on Friday
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Caroline Crouch: Husband says he ‘begged’ burglars
A Greek pilot accused of murdering his British wife while she slept has also been charged with killing their dog.
Babis Anagnostopoulos is due to appear in an Athens court on Friday accused of murdering Caroline Crouch, 20, and of two counts of perverting the course of justice.
Now, following legal wrangling led by Marathon Animal Welfare Association, the 33-year-old will also face accusations that he killed five-month-old pup Roxy.
Anagnostopoulos could face an extra ten years in prison if he is found guilty of the crime under a law brought in two years ago, which allows harsh sentences for animal cruelty including poisoning, hanging, burning and mutilation.
Evangelia Tsanopoulou, the lawyer representing Roxy the dog, has said she will argue for the maximum decade long sentence.
Anagnostopoulos is due in court on Friday
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Babis Anagnostopoulos/Instagram)
“It’s important that Roxy also gets justice. It was an atrocious crime because the dog was not simply murdered, he was first tortured and then murdered and went through horrendous last moments,” she told Mail Online.
“The dog was wearing his regular collar and was hung between the first and second floor which means that he choked to death and was severely tormented before breathing his last.”
The Marathon Animal Welfare Association announced the charge and said that Roxy had been adopted by Anagnostopoulos and Caroline in December 2020 – five months before he was found dead alongside his owner.
Prosecutors have argued that the murders were pre-meditated and that Anagnostopoulos should also be given a life sentence for killing Caroline.
The pilot has admitted to the killing but maintains that it was a ‘crime of passion’ after she threatened to divorce him.
Caroline was found dead at her home in Greece on May 11 last year lying in her bed alongside her 11-month-old baby daughter.
Anagnostopoulos stands accused of murdering his wife
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ᴄᴀʀᴏʟɪɴᴇ ᴄʀᴏᴜᴄʜ/Instagram)
Roxy the dog was found dead
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Animal Welfare Association of Marathon)
The first officer at the traumatising scene said he saw the 20-year-old tied to a bed with her daughter trying to wake her up, while her husband was found handcuffed in another room with duct tape over his eyes and mouth.
Anagnostopoulos initially told police and reporters that foreign gang members armed with guns broke in while the family was sleeping, then tied up and gagged him and his wife.
“I wish no-one ever goes through what we went through last night. It was a nightmare,” Anagnostopoulos said the day after his wife was found dead.
Speaking to TV crews outside their family home, he added: “We begged the thieves not to harm us. We told them where the money was and asked them to leave us alone. The police will catch them.”
Caroline was found dead next to her baby
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Babis Anagnostopoulos/Instagram)
Anagnostopoulos told detectives that one of the three alleged intruders strangled his wife and threatened their baby with a gun.
According to police, he said the burglars demanded cash and jewellery, and fled with about £10,000 worth of euros hidden in a Monopoly box, which they had on hand to pay builders.
Anagnostopoulos speculated that his life was spared because he had temporarily lost consciousness while bound, gagged and blindfolded in a different room, so likely appeared dead.
Two days after his wife was found dead, Anagnostopoulos told the Mirror he was in “no condition” to speak at length about her.
He added: “She was an amazing person, full of life and full of love. Our lives will never be the same without her.
“Take care of your family, sir. Cherish your loved ones as much as you can.”
The 20-year-old mother with Anagnostopoulos
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Babis Anagnostopoulos/Instagram)
This led Greek police on a wild goose chase for a fictional gang of Albanian raiders for weeks, until they realised the evidence just didn’t add up.
There were many unanswered questions, such as how three men could have got into the house through a tiny window without forced entry.
The police also couldn’t work out how he supposedly managed to wriggle free and call for help using his nose to work his mobile phone.
Detectives said the robbery story fell apart thanks to Ms Crouch’s fitness tracker, data from Anagnostopoulos’ mobile phone, and CCTV from the home in the upscale neighbourhood, Greek media reported.
Anagnostopoulos attended a memorial to his wife on the island of Alonnisos, where he was seen hugging Caroline’s grief-stricken mother before being approached by detectives.
Caroline was found dead at her home in Greece
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Caroline Crouch/Instagram)
Anagnostopoulos has been charged with killing the dog
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Getty Images)
They old him there had been a breakthrough in the case and they wanted his help to identify a suspect, but after being flown to Athens he was told that he was the suspect.
During an eight-hour interrogation, Anagnostopoulos is said to have confessed to killing Caroline after she told him to leave the house following an argument.
They said Anagnostopoulos admitted he killed his wife in front of their daughter then strangled the family’s dog as he tried to make it look like a robbery gone wrong.
