The investigation into the murder of a 41-year-old paramedic from the National Centre for Emergency Care (EKAV) on the island of Syros is entering a critical phase, with authorities awaiting the coroner’s report, which is expected to play a decisive role in establishing the circumstances of her death.
New details about the circumstances surrounding the death of the victim have emerged from case file documents. The papers record in detail what police officers found at the crime scene, as well as items discovered during a search of the home belonging to the man at the centre of the investigation.
The findings are numerous, and some are considered particularly significant to the progress of the inquiry. However, their presence alone is not enough to draw conclusions about the exact mechanism of the killing or how each item connects to it. That remains a matter for the preliminary investigation and forensic examination.
According to the crime scene and seizure report, police officers arrived in the area on the afternoon of 23 July as part of an investigation into premeditated homicide and a breach of firearms legislation.
The house that was searched is located on a narrow lane in the settlement of Ano Syros, in an area reached by steps. According to the document, the front door of the house was open and led directly into the kitchen, where food was laid out on the table.
From there, officers followed the route pointed out to them by local residents. Approximately 70 metres from the house, they found the 41-year-old lying on Agiou Georgiou Street, near its junction with Velissariou Freri Street. Bloodstains were recorded right next to where the woman was found, and a broken flower pot was discovered a short distance away.
The two knives
Among the items listed in the report are two knives of different sizes. The first had a blade measuring 20 centimetres, with a total length of 32 centimetres, while the second had a blade of 12.5 centimetres and a total length of 21.5 centimetres. Both were seized by the authorities. The document does not specify which of the two, if either was used, is connected to the fatal injury sustained by the 41-year-old. That question is expected to be answered through a combination of forensic and laboratory findings.
As officers made their way back towards the house, the crime scene report also recorded a wooden chair, damaged, positioned opposite the property in front of the Catholic Church of Panagia tou Karmilou. Security cameras were found to be installed both inside and outside the house at that same location.
The presence of video footage takes on particular importance for the investigation. A second document in the case file shows that a 32GB microSD memory card was handed over to police the same day. According to the handover and seizure report, the card came from a camera positioned at the entrance to the house. Its contents could prove critical, as they may help establish movements before and after the incident. However, the documents available do not reveal what the footage actually shows.
The 13,000 euros and firearms siezed
The search of the property’s interior uncovered a further set of findings. Officers seized 13,000 euros in cash, along with a number of firearms and rounds of ammunition. The report specifically lists two side-by-side double-barrelled shotguns, a Benelli repeating hunting shotgun and a Baikal double-barrelled shotgun.
Officers also seized hundreds of hunting cartridges: 200 rounds in eight packs, a further 30 in three packs, 97 loose in a plastic bag, 26 in a cartridge belt and an additional 28 rounds. The report also references 16 spent cartridge cases of different calibres and 27 bullets of different calibres. A further 10 cartridges of assorted calibres were found locked inside a gun cabinet in the bathroom, according to the police report.
The 70-metre route
One of the details carrying particular weight in reconstructing events is the distance between the house and the spot where the woman was found, which the report puts at approximately 70 metres. Along that short stretch, investigators recorded a series of separate findings: the open front door, the damaged chair, the broken flower pot, the two knives and finally the spot where the 41-year-old was found with bloodstains beside her.
Whether all these elements form part of a single sequence of events, and in what order they occurred, is a question the crime scene report does not answer. The report documents the scene as officers found it, not necessarily how the incident unfolded. On that front, it is the security camera footage, witness statements, forensic evidence and post-mortem examination that are expected to fill in the gaps.
What emerges so far from the case file documents is a scene containing numerous separate findings within a small radius around the house. The priority for the authorities now is to determine which of these are genuinely connected to the crime and which were simply present at the scene, in order to safely reconstruct the events that preceded the 41-year-old’s death.
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