Man accused of killing wife and son remanded for further eight days

A court convening at Nicosia general hospital on Saturday renewed a remand order for a man accused of killing his wife and son for another eight days.

The 59-year-old was detained last Thursday week in connection with the stabbing and murder of his wife, 51, and son, 20, at their home in Ergates.

The suspect had allegedly tried to kill his second son, 25, who had been treated in hospital for a stab wound to the throat.

He remains under guard in hospital since his arrest later that day.

At the time, police said the suspect had been examined by a forensic pathologist and a psychiatrist and was found mentally fit to follow his arraignment in court.

It later emerged that the suspect had killed before in the past and had spent nine years in a psychiatric hospital.

He had stabbed to death his 11-year-old niece in August 1976 when he was 15.

The family of his wife said they did not know about the murder. They were told he had done time in a psychiatric hospital because he was a pyromaniac.