Police investigating the double murder of two Russian women at a holiday home in mountainous Kato Amiantos are not convinced by the Syrian suspect’s story or motives.
The Syrian man, 32, is in police custody on suspicion of premeditated double murder after he admitted to committing the crime and showing authorities where he had buried the bodies.
However, police officers doubt the suspect’s claims that he had acted alone.
But to date, the allegations made by the 32-year-old perpetrator in his testimony do not convince investigators of either his motive or how he claims to have killed and buried the two women.
Police appear to be unconvinced about his exact motive and the role of two Syrian workers he said he had hired to help him dig the 2-metre-deep grave discovered on Sunday.
The suspect told officers he had found the workers by chance in Limassol and took them to the holiday home, where they helped him dig a pit two meters deep.
They were unaware; apparently, the true purpose was to dig a grave for the two women.
Police are troubled by the suspect’s claim he had found the women sitting outside laughing about him, as the clothes found on the women’s bodies were not sufficient to keep them warm.
This makes officers certain that the murders took place inside the home, bringing about more questions over how he carried the bodies down to the basement without having someone to help him.
Meanwhile, video footage of the suspect driving up to the holiday home shows another man sitting in the passenger’s seat.
The suspect claims it was a hitchhiker, whom he picked up on the way.
The victims, Alraeesi Khaiat, 43 and Mariia Gazibagandova, 33, had gone missing on 17 November.
The two women had arrived in Cyprus as tourists, one at the beginning of summer, the other around one and a half months ago.
Bloodstains found at the holiday house outside Limassol were matched to one of them. Bloodstains were found in the house and on an excavator on the premises.
Arrested at the end of November, the Syrian man had been held on suspicion of abducting the two women.
Eventually, the man broke under pressure from investigators and admitted to killing the women shooting them with a hunting gun because he thought they had been taunting him.
