Police: Greek pilot confirmed forensics on wife death

A Greek helicopter pilot was charged on Friday with the murder of his British-Greek wife, whose death he had initially claimed was caused by burglars during a brutal invasion of their home on the outskirts of Athens.

Pilot and flight instructor Babis Anagnostopoulos, 33, was arraigned for the May 11 killing of Caroline Crouch, 20, who died of suffocation.

In brief remarks to reporters, his lawyer confirmed that he had confessed to the crime, adding that he had expressed remorse for his actions.

Police investigators said analysis of data from a smartwatch worn by the victim had helped reveal inconsistencies in the pilot’s account of events.

Athens police on Friday said that Anagnostopoulos has now confirmed what the forensics experts suggested happened to Crouch.

The pilot had publicly claimed that armed robbers broke into the couple’s home and tied up and gagged him and his wife in their bedroom as their months-old daughter slept. He had said the men stole cash before escaping.

The account shocked the nation and prompted government officials to announce a 300,000 euro (365,000 US dollars) reward for information about the crime.

Their daughter was unharmed, but the family dog was found choked to death on a leash, hanging from a staircase rail, authorities said.

Speaking at a press conference in Athens on Friday, the director of the greater Athens homicide division said the police were unable to find evidence of any adults other than Anagnostopoulos and Crouch at the property when the crime took place.

Costas Hassiotis said this meant the investigation "had to turn to the husband".

Hassiotis said that Anagnostopoulos confirmed he had killed his wife and staged his house in such a way so as to make it appear as though there had been a robbery.

He added that the suspect had tied his own hands along with those of his dead wife.

"It was done in order to direct the place in order to convince the police that it is a robbery," he said.

The examination of mobile devices, a smartwatch with a heart rate monitor used by Crouch, and cameras, had established a timeline that contradicted with the pilot’s testimony.

Forensic experts established the time a memory card had been removed from the security camera, adding to the evidence against the pilot.

Anagnostopoulos was detained after authorities summoned him for questioning Thursday while he was attending a memorial service for Crouch on the Aegean Sea island of Alonissos, where she grew up.

He was flown to Athens by helicopter from the nearby island of Skiathos, and interviewed for more than six hours before police announced that he was a suspect.

In a May 16 post on Instagram, Anagnostopoulos uploaded an undated photograph of the couple on a trip to Portugal for a wedding photo shoot, writing: “Always together. Farewell, my love.”