Demetroui killers face new trial over alleged €188,000 robbery

Five people – four of whom have been convicted for the murder of Demetris Andronikou, known as Demetroui – were referred to a direct trial before Larnaca criminal court on Tuesday, facing robbery charges.

The suspects, aged 43, 42, 41, 29 and 27, have been charged with the burglary of the house of a businessman in 2024.

According to the testimony of the businessman’s wife, four hooded men entered the couple’s premises in Larnaca’s Faneromeni area in February 2024.

She said that the men had threatened her and two domestic workers with garden shears and locked them in one of the bedrooms, before stealing their mobile phones and jewellery.

The men then reportedly forced the wife to open the safe, from where they stole further jewellery, as well as watches and money with a total value of over €188,000.

Closed circuit footage later revealed that five men were involved in the robbery and had fled in a stolen vehicle. The vehicle was later found abandoned in the Yermasogia river.

One of the watches stolen was subsequently put up for sale on social media and sold to a jewellery store in Lebanon. The owner of the store later informed the authorities that the watch had been offered to him by sellers from Cyprus.

A few weeks after the alleged robbery, in mid-March 2024, the police arrested the 41-year-old suspect, who is accused of making contact with Lebanon.

During the course of the robbery investigation, the 41-year-old was arrested for the murder of Demetris Andronikou, who was shot in 2024.

In his testimony, the 41-year-old later claimed that another three other people had been involved in the robbery.

Earlier this month, almost two years after the alleged robbery, the 43-year-old was arrested by the police in the context of the murder, while a 27-year-old man was wanted.

He was detained before court on Tuesday, but objected to his detention, with the court reserving its decision for Wednesday.

In the meantime, the police detained a 30-year-old man after he confessed to selling a pair of rings stolen during the robbery in a Nicosia jewellery shop.

Further details on the exact charges have not been provided by the police, despite another case having been filed against him.

The five defendants brought before the court on Tuesday face charges of conspiracy to commit a felony, robbery, night-time burglary and theft.

Four of the accused, with the exception of the 43-year-old, have formerly been found guilty of the killing of Andronikou.

The next hearing in the robbery case has been scheduled for April 2.

Andronikou had been shot three times in broad daylight while riding a motorcycle in the Nicosia suburb of Lakatamia in April 2024, with one of the bullets hitting him in the neck. He succumbed to sepsis arising from the gunshot wounds a month later.

The deceased had been described as “well-known to police”, indicating that he may have been linked to organised crime in the past.

He had been visiting a detained individual being held at the Lakatamia police station on the day he was shot.

Three people were handed life sentences for their parts in his murder in 2025.

The trio, 30-year-old Omar Suleyman, 28-year-old Mohammad Al Agka and 26-year-old Mohammad Kasab had admitted their guilt, while Al Agka and Kasab later named Suleyman as the “mastermind” behind the murder.

They joined 42-year-old Yiasser Arar, who drove the shooter away from the scene. They were sentenced to life imprisonment alongside 42-year-old Yiasser Arar.