THE LARNACA Criminal Court yesterday found enough evidence to proceed in the murder trial against Antonis Kalogyrou, 58, who was found prima facie guilty of murdering his 39-year-old partner Irene Andreou.
Kalogyrou will be called to enter a plea on January 30, 2012.
The murder was committed on April 20, 2011 in Larnaca at the place where the couple stayed. The 58-year-old man turned up at Larnaca police station a little after 11pm on the night of the murder to report that the woman he was living with in the town had lost consciousness about an hour earlier.
The suspect told police that he and Andreou, from Larnaca, were drinking at the flat on Apostolos Varnavas road which both had been sharing for the past two weeks when she lost consciousness.
According to Kalogyrou’s statement, he tried to revive her but to no avail and so went to police to report the incident.
Police rushed to the scene, where they found the victim sitting motionless on an armchair. They failed to find any external injuries. However, on her transfer by ambulance to Larnaca general hospital, doctors noticed a small 2cm lesion under her left breast, which appeared to have been caused by a sharp object.
An autopsy was carried out by state pathologists Sofoclis Sofocleous and Nicolas Charalambous. The two concluded that the victim had been pierced beneath her left breast, probably by a screwdriver, causing serious and fatal injuries to the lungs and heart.
Police believe the murder took place on site, after the victim and alleged perpetrator drank around seven to eight cans of beer.
Kalogyrou is a Turkish Cypriot father of four who has been living in the government-controlled areas since 1978.
He was in a relationship with the victim for two years before the murder.
Cyprus Mail