Paphos murder suspect to face trial in January

The man suspected of having stabbed 26-year-old Alexandros Antoniou to death in the Paphos district village of Konia will stand trial in January and will remain in custody until then, with Paphos criminal court having decided on Wednesday that he will be trialled behind bars.

The court told the man, who is 58 years old, that “premeditated murder is one of the most serious offences in the criminal code”, and said that he would remain behind bars as if he were to be released on bail, it would be possible that he would not appear in court for his trial.

It then made reference to the suspect’s daughter and pointed out that she had had a relationship with the victim in the past, before saying that she had said in her statement to the police that the victim had “sent her a threatening message”.

Then, the court said, she had notified her father, who had already previously informed the police that the victim had slashed her car’s tyres.

Later in the hearing, the court made reference to CCTV footage taken from the kiosk where the murder was committed, with that footage showing a man with his hand in his pocket, moving from the front of the kiosk to the vehicle in which the victim was sat, opening its door, and stabbing him.

Additionally, it pointed out that a friend of the victim had hold the police he had heard him talking on his mobile phone on the day of the murder, and that he overheard a male voice saying, “if you ever touch [the suspect’s daughter’s name] again, I will kill you”.

At this point, prosecution lawyer Sotiroula Papalazarou said that the police also have testimony that the suspect and the victim were at one point engaged in an argument, and that the victim asked “what do you want? What did I do?”, and the suspect responded, “did you hear what I told you? Leave her alone”.

The court later also made reference to “genetic material” found on the back of the driver’s seat of the car in which the victim was sitting when he was stabbed, with that genetic material having been confirmed as belonging to the suspect.

Defence lawyer Elias Stefanou argued that the suspect’s intention was “not to strike a vital part of the 26-year-old’s body”.

The incident occurred on November 19, with it having been reported that the two men initially started arguing outside the kiosk in Konia, before the suspect drew a blade and stabbed the victim multiple times before fleeing the scene.

The victim was then taken to the Paphos general hospital, where he remained until his death almost three days later.

The suspect was arrested on the day of the murder and then re-arrested after the victim had died.

The trial is set to begin on January 29.