A 64-year-old man arrested for the murder of a 55-year-old Romanian woman has confessed to the killing and was remanded in police custody for eight days; his motive remains unclear.
Investigators have several riddles to solve regarding the murder of Liliana Niteanu, who was found dead by a real estate agent at an abandoned property in Nicosia.
Police told the Financial Mirror that the suspect was known to the woman and closely connected.
Some reports suggest that they had been living together.
The man confessed to the crime shortly after being picked up by police, making a series of claims regarding the murder, which are being investigated.
When arrested, officers found several knives in the suspect’s possession, which were taken for forensic tests to determine whether any of them had been used in killing the 55-year-old woman, who suffered multiple skull fractures and injuries.
Police told a Nicosia district court; that they had interviewed ten people regarding the case. They want to talk to another 30 people who may have information.
Investigations are also being carried out at a second house.
According to police sources, the possibility that the murder was committed elsewhere and moved to the abandoned house has been ruled out.
Police obtained evidence that placed the suspect at the crime scene at the time of the murder from eyewitness reports and CCTV cameras.
Investigators are interested in the whereabouts of a second man seen at the house.
The woman’s body was found on Tuesday afternoon at an abandoned property in mid-town Nicosia when a real estate agent and another person inspected the property at around 4:30 pm Tuesday.
Police said the woman was found with her face badly battered and bloodied.
“She sustained head injuries caused by a sharp object,” said CID Nicosia chief Andreas Lambrianou.
He said preliminary findings suggested a crime had been committed within the last 24 hours inside the home.
The property is a house on Atho Street, off the busy Kennedy Avenue in the capital.
Reports say that although the property had been vacated, it was frequented by people described as “homeless”.
