Brother who shot sister suspected of sabotaging her car

A 23-year-old man who allegedly shot and killed his sister, 21, with his army-issue assault rifle is also suspected of tampering with the brakes of her car before the shooting.

The man, being held for the incident which took place on 5 May at the village of Klavdia, Larnaca district, was remanded in police custody for another eight days on Thursday.

Elias Harpa claims he had shot his sister, Maria Harpa, by accident while he was cleaning his G3 army rifle in their home.

Harpa appeared in court wearing a bulletproof vest, as police revealed new evidence concerning the relationship with his sister.

Investigators discovered that the front brake cables on his sister’s car had been severed using a cutter.

The suspect reportedly admitted to cutting the brake lines, claiming he did so after a fight with his sister during which she had let the air out of the tyres of his car.

Police confirmed that he had been to a petrol station to inflate his tyres.

The suspect denies intentionally killing his sister.

Initially, when questioned, the woman’s brother, told police that he was cleaning his military-issued G3 assault rifle after a National Guard exercise.

He claimed that he had returned from army reserve shooting practice, where his gun had jammed.

According to the suspect, the military technician overseeing the practice instructed him to clean the gun when he went home.

His allegations were looked into as military exercises were cancelled during the coronavirus outbreak.

At the initial remand hearing, the court heard that police contacted the commander of the unit in which the suspect serves as a reserve, and he said there was no scheduled shooting practice on 5 May.

The commander stated that the last shooting-range practice by the unit took place on 17 May 2019.

The suspect has since admitted to lying to police, claiming he was afraid of being arrested.

The family nightmare unfolded on the day of Maria’s birthday, she was also two months pregnant and looking forward to getting married.