Double murder charges after second stabbing victim dies (Update 2)

The two men accused of a double murder in Limassol were charged with premeditated murder on Friday morning and remanded in custody for seven days.

The pair appeared in court and claimed that they were attacked at the start of the incident.

The men, aged 54 and 49, were arrested shortly after attacking three others with a knife outside a pub on Thursday morning and initially taken to court for the murder of 44-year-old Marios Onisiforou.

However, a second victim, 51-year-old Michalis Michael, died from his wounds shortly after midnight on Thursday.

An autopsy carried out on Friday confirmed that Onisiforou and Michael both died of blood loss caused by a sharp object.

According to testimonies gathered by the police, the victims were defending a third man, aged 43, with whom they had gone out to a pub in Ypsonas the night before.

It was heard in the court that items were thrown across the pub prior to the man being drawn out of the premises at around 2am on Thursday, where the two suspects were waiting.

It is believed that he was targeted as he physically attacked the brother of one of the suspects two weeks prior. In his statement, he said he was threatened.

One of the suspects allegedly said, “I’ll kill you, you bastard!” before attacking the man with a knife. His hand was wounded before he ran back into the pub while his two friends, Onisiforou and Michael, defended him.

Onisiforou was stabbed once in the neck and twice in the face, while Michael was stabbed in the back of the neck.

The 49-year-old suspect and the 43-year-old man are both known to the authorities having been part of previous drugs cases.

The police’s investigation is ongoing.