Remand renewed for seven suspects in murder of Latsia man

Nicosia district court renewed the remand of the seven suspects in the brutal murder of 61-year-old Dorotheos Demetriades in Latsia last week.

The court accepted the request of the investigator and remanded the suspects for an additional five days. Police reportedly received new CCTV material which is being examined.

According to the evidence collected so far, which includes a short statement from Demetriades before he died in the night of January 4, the suspects beat him to death.

Earlier that night, the 61-year-old had gone to a specific apartment building in Latsia to resolve a disagreement between two tenants, one of whom was a familial friend.

He was apparently dragged from the first floor of the apartment building to the ground floor after an initial altercation on the second floor, according to witness testimony presented in court during the remand hearings on Tuesday.

The court heard that two women tenants, Demetriades’ friend and a 31-year-old suspect, had gotten into an argument over issues caused by the suspect’s family.

Attempting to resolve the issue, Demetriades went to the apartment of the 31-year-old woman, who lives with her four children and 35-year-old partner, also a suspect in the case.

Based on the statement given by 31-year-old, her 7-year-old son answered the door.

The woman said that when her son asked who was at the door, Demetriades responded: “It’s Doros, and I am bringing presents.”

At some point the woman came to the door, and Demetriades and the woman began to argue. The woman claimed the 61-year-old slapped her, which incited her 35-year-old boyfriend to begin fighting with Demetriades.

The court also heard that the man then told one of the woman’s children to call the other four suspects as well.

Meanwhile, the 35-year-old, a 26-year-old suspect who was already there, and the 31-year-old beat Demetriades on the second floor, as CCTV footage from the common area of the building showed.

While the victim was on the ground, the 26-year-old then proceeded to drag him to the stairwell, where the argument continued.

Demetriades eventually made it to the first floor of the building, pursued by the 26-year-old. The two argued again, which led the 26-year-old to drag Demetriades down the stairs from the first floor to the ground floor.

A post-mortem showed that Demetriades died of internal bleeding caused by injuries to his stomach and other organs.

Questions also exist about the role played by the other four people who are in custody for the case. Police testimony in court shows two of them were present at the episode and specifically at the beating of the victim by the 26-year-old suspect. However, there is no clear indication of the extent to which they are involved or not.

In addition to the couple (31-year-old and 35-year-old) and the 26-year-old, who were brought to court last Thursday, four more people were arrested in the following days. They are a 24-year-old, a 25-year-old and two 27-year-olds. All are suspected of the offences of conspiracy to commit murder and manslaughter.

Demetriades’ funeral was held last Saturday. He was well-known among sports fans and with other members of the public. He was an ardent Liverpool supporter, and ping pong player at the KN Acropolis.

The former Green party leader Giorgos Perdikis said Demetriades was a kind-hearted and giving person.