Caroline Crouch wrote ‘coded’ diary entries ‘detailing her husband’s abuse’ – World News

Murdered Brit mum Caroline Crouch wrote coded diary entries to secretly record the horrific abuse she suffered at the hands of her killer husband.

Greek authorities have banned publication of the disturbing excerpts because they say it could risk prejudicing the trial of helicopter pilot Babis Anagnostopoulos.

Anagnostopoulos, 32, has already confessed to killing his 20-year-old wife, with whom he shares a baby daughter, Lydia, but will deny it was premeditated.

Some passages from the diary were leaked on social media before Anagnostopoulos was arrested and appear to chronicle a crumbling marriage.

The entries detail alleged controlling and aggressive behaviour from Anagnostopoulos, that led Ms Crouch to tell him she wanted to leave.

After Caroline’s death, Anagnostopoulos lied to police for more than a month, claiming three armed robbers had broken in, tied him up and murdered his wife.

His story unravelled when detectives found several crucial strands of evidence, including data proving he moved up and down the house during the timeframe in which he was purportedly restrained.

The killer strangled his wife to death – it took eight minutes for her to die – and killed the family dog as part of the cover-up, The Times reports.

Greek prosecutors say publication of Caroline’s diary entries, some of which were written in code, would “offend the victim’s memory” and may prejudice a trial.

“The publication of the [diary] entries not only offends the victim’s memory, but they may contribute to creating a favourable climate for the defendant and his line of defence,” Vassilis Pliotis, a Supreme Court prosecutor said.

Some passages from the journal have already been published.

An investigation has been launched into how excerpts from the diary, which were part of a 26-page police report, were leaked to the media.

It is believed the killer placed the couple’s screaming daughter, Lydia, next to her mum’s body to stage a break-in that would match the story he had invented.

But Anagnostopoulos will argue that his wife was being “verbally and physically aggressive towards him,” according to local reports.

If he manages to convince a jury that the killing was unplanned, he could see a life sentence reduced to just 15 years behind bars.

In one entry, written in 2019, Ms Crouch referenced fighting with her husband and said she had woken up feeling “weak and tired”.

She went on to say she was thinking of leaving him and going to stay with her sister.

Caroline also expressed her love for the pilot, but noted that the relationship was hurting her.

Anagnostopoulos’ revelation that he was behind Caroline’s death has sparked widespread anger across Greece and Britain.

Crowds of angry locals shouted “rot in prison” as he turned up at court in Athens to face a judge this week.

The killer was flanked by security guards and wearing a bulletproof vest as he arrived – and the court ordered him to be held in a women’s jail.

Men are sometimes transferred to female prisons in Greece when there’s a likelihood of them being attacked by other male inmates, The Times reports.

Anagnostopoulos’ lawyer Alexandros Papaioannidis has asserted that his client “never meant for any of this to happen”.