Greek pilot Babis Anagnostopoulos, 33, appeared before a magistrate in Greece on Tuesday, five days after confessing to killing his young wife Caroline Crouch, 20, and the 7-month-old family puppy, Roxy.
Facing life in prison, he attempted to convince Greek justice that the crime, which he initially claimed was committed by foreign robbers, had not been been planned nor premeditated.
He confessed to the crime after police found evidence against him based on the examination of mobile devices, a smartwatch and cameras which revealed inconsistencies in his account.
“I am sorry,” he was quoted as saying in his testimony.
“I truly regret my action. I have ruined my life and that of my family. I am fully aware that sorry is such a small word and is by no means enough to soften the pain I caused.”
His wife is reported by the coroner to have died “an agonising death” in the couple’s suburban home at Glyka Nera, Athens, in the early hours of 11 May.
He said that his actions following the murder, where he blamed the death of his wife on armed robbers with foreign accents, was done out of consideration for his 11-month-old daughter Lydia, who had been present at the house during her mother’s killing.
Mr Anagnostopoulos met Caroline in the summer of 2017 on the island of Alonnisos where his family owned a holiday home and visited regularly. He had previously lived on the island from the ages of 10 to 14 years, when his mother had been appointed as a teacher there.
“Caroline lived on the island permanently and was a student there. I worked as a helicopter pilot with a private company and would visit the island regularly with my helicopter and any other way to see her,” he said. “We decided to marry in September 2018 and the wedding took place on 15 July 2019, on the anniversary of our meeting.”
The couple moved to their house in Glyka Nera, Athens, in April 2019.
Mr Anagnostopoulos said his wife’s behaviour “steadily changed” following her pregnancy.
“A few weeks after we married, Caroline became pregnant. The idea of this child completed our joy. Unfortunately, three months into the pregnancy, Caroline had a miscarriage and from that moment her behaviour started to steadily change. In Autumn of the same year, she became pregnant a second time with our Lydia. […] Just as every parent feels incredible love for their child, so did I for Lydia, especially after her health concerns. She was the most important person in the world and the love I feel for her cannot be described with words,” he said, adding that, along with the two pregnancies, his wife’s behaviour began to change.
“During that time period she began to have aggressive outbreaks against me. For us to be able to control the situation, I suggested we visit a psychology so that we could save our family. At the start, Caroline agreed and was regular in these meetings, however she steadily began to find different excuses and finally stopped attending. Her mood began to fluctuate. Until the day of the tragic event which I described to the police during the interrogation, I would like to state that I never planned nor was there any motive.”
READ MORE: Bombshell twist: Greek husband of Caroline Crouch confesses to brutal murder
Mr Anagnostopoulos blamed the killing on a “blur” in his judgment after he had been “verbally and physically” attacked by his young wife.
The coroner reports that this asphyxiation took five to six minutes when the young woman had been “asleep at the time”, however defence attorney Alexandros Papaioannou, told Proto Thema newspaper that “Caroline was not asleep. What we are hearing, we do not accept.”
His previous defence lawyer Vassilis Spyrou had resigned from the case. “I do not desire to have anything more to do with the defence of this case for personal reasons,” he had told reporters. He told ALPHA TV that the young man has expressed remorse for killing his wife.
Despite Mr Anagnostopoulos’ confession, police spokesman Apostolos Skrekas confirmed that investigators have not ruled out that accomplices aided and abetted the crime.
Retired brigadeer Thanassis Katerinopoulos, who heads the Greek police officers union, told ALPHA TV “there is more to this” and urged authorities to examine the case until the end.
In Greece, the murder has drawn attention to issues of domestic violence, especially bearing the way in which the crime scene had been found.
The baby lay next to the dead mother when the police arrived, and the family’s dog had been hung from the bannister in Mr Anagnostopoulos’ attempt to make the home invasion scene appear “more convincing”.
The government had, at the time, wasted valuable resources in the hunt for the culprits and had announced a 300,000-euro reward for information as to their whereabouts while Mr Anagnostopoulos kept up the fabrication.
READ MORE: How Caroline’s smartwatch revealed that her death ‘was not instantaneous’
The husband was arrested at his wife’s memorial service on the island of Alonissos where he embraced his mother-in-law Susan Crouch and appeared to be a grieving widow.
David Crouch, Caroline’s father, worked as an oil and gas executive and had moved the family to the island when his daughter was young.
Greece’s state network ERT reported that Susan Crouch was “too distressed” to visit Athens for her son-in-law’s trial.
“You understand the position of the mother who hugged the hands that took her daughter’s breath away. There should be consultation with the perpetrator’s family,” lawyer Thanassis Hamanis, representing the Crouch family, said.
He said David and Susan Crouch would apply for custody of Lydia, adding that the two parents-in-law maintain “excellent relations” despite the tragedy and continue to have “mutual respect and esteem” for each other.
Mr Anagnostopoulos arrived at court in handcuffs, wearing a bulletproof vest, on Tuesday to give his testimony, expressionless, while onlookers – including feminist groups – chanted abuse. “Rot in hell,” the yelled.
Later, it was ordered that Mr Anagnostopoulos be taken to Greece’s Korydallos prison, a high-security facility where he will be held pending trial later in the year on charges of intentional homicide, killing an animal and two misdemeanours related to his false testimony and false report to authorities.
