Caroline Crouch murder: Husband’s lawyer resigns before court hearing

The husband of murdered Briton Caroline Crouch has arrived in court for his first hearing today as a crowd of angry onlookers told him to ‘rot in prison’. 

Babis Anagnostopoulos wore a bullet-proof vest and was flanked by a dozen armed guards as he walked into court this morning, where he is expected to recount a murder confession he gave to police last week in front of a judge.

As he was led inside the courthouse dozens of protesters heckled him – shouting ‘killer’ and ‘monster’ amid a national outpouring of anger at a case which has shocked Greece.

Anagnostopoulos had initially claimed that Caroline died in the early hours of May 11 in a burglary-gone-wrong, but last week dramatically admitted to having killed her himself and then invented the break-in so he could raise their infant daughter.

Prosecutors will argue today that Caroline’s murder was premeditated and Anagnostopoulos should be jailed for life – pointing to a CCTV camera that had its memory card removed hours before she died and smartwatch data suggesting she was asleep when she was smothered as evidence.

Anagnostopoulos is expected to argue the killing took place in the heat of the moment, amid a bitter argument in which Caroline had threatened to leave him and take their daughter while roughly throwing the child into her crib as he seeks a lighter sentence.

But just moments before the hearing got underway Vassilis Spyrou – one of the two lawyers assigned to defend the case – quit, saying he made the decision for ‘personal reasons’ without elaborating further. 

Alexandros Papaioannidis, the other defence lawyer, later told reporters that Spyrou’s resignation came at the request of Anagnostopoulos himself.

‘It is the choice of my client and I can not comment on that,’ he said. 

The defence team had said in advance of the hearing that Anagnostopoulos will not dispute the main allegation – that he is responsible for Caroline’s death – but will instead present new information not included in his police testimony that he hopes will add context to events.

‘This information will shed light on the circumstances of the crime and will enrich his pre-trial testimony,’ his legal team said. 

Anagnostopoulos is also expected to apologise for his actions and repeat the excuse he gave to police for inventing the burglary – that he couldn’t bear the thought of his child growing up without parents. 

In total, Anagnostopoulos is facing four charges which includes Caroline’s murder and the death of their seven-month-old Husky puppy Roxy – drowned by Babis as part of his botched cover-up.

At the same time in a separate hearing within the same complex, a juvenile court will sit to decide the fate of the couple’s 11-month-old daughter Lydia, who is currently being looked after by Anagnostopoulos’s parents: Father Constantinos and mother Georgia at their Athens home who want to retain custody of the child.

Caroline’s distraught parents Susan and David Crouch, who live in their retirement home on the island of Alonnisos, also demanding custody of her. 

Thanasis Harmanis, the lawyer representing Ms Crouch’s family, said they have filed a civil lawsuit arguing that the girl should grow up on Alonnisos where Caroline herself was raised.

But he added that they have ‘good relations’ with the Anagnostopoulos family and is hopeful that some kind of joint arrangement can be worked out.

He said that Caroline’s mother will not be attending court today as she continued to recover from the shocking news that her daughter’s husband – who embraced her at a memorial service just last week – is in fact her killer.

‘You understand the position of the mother who realized at some point that in the memorial service she was embracing the hands that took her daughter’s breath away. You understand how tragic and painful this is,’ he said. 

He also revealed that Caroline’s mother has domestic help at home which will allow her to raise baby Lydia.

He added: ‘I believe that Alonnisos is the ideal environment for this child to grow up, until a certain age at least. Later on we can revise.’ 

Ahead of the hearing, Anagnostopoulos was being held in solitary confinement on the 7th floor of Athens Police Headquarters.

After visiting him, his lawyer Alexandros Papaioannidis told MailOnline: ‘My client is in a rough psychological state, the court hearing will be a very difficult day.

‘Now, fully conscious of the act, we are discussing his plea. He is ready to face the magistrate and give answers. He is fully aware of the situation and of what is ahead of him.’ 

Referring to Lydia’s future, the lawyer added: ‘He (Anagnostopoulos) wishes custody to be shared between the two families. 

‘As his lawyer – apart from the criminal part- I am instructed to take any action before the prosecutor’s office in the child’s best interest.’

Mr Papaioannidis revealed that he will ask for some more time this morning to consider the digital evidence that was uncovered by police, which led to Anagnostopoulos’s confession last week.

This consists of data from Caroline’s fitness tracker which recorded that her pulse had stopped an hour before Anagnostopoulos claimed robbers had burst in; movements recorded by an app on his mobile phone which showed that he was up and walking around during the time he stated he was tied down by intruders; and evidence that he removed the memory card from the CCTV cameras, hours before he alleged, they had killed Caroline.

Mr Papaioannidis said that his defence would be based on Anagnostopoulos’s claim that he did not plan to kill Caroline and that he staged a cover-up to make it appear as though she had died in a botched burglary, because he did not want Lydia to be brought up without at least one parent.

According to reports in Greece, both sets of her grandparents are communicating with the child’s best interest in mind.

The juvenile court will also hear from a social worker on who should raise Lydia but if an agreement cannot be reached between the two families, the issue will be decided by a judge at a later hearing.

Following today’s hearing before an investigative magistrate, Anagnostopoulos is expected to be remanded in custody at Korydallos prison, which is located on the outskirts of Athens and is Greece’s main maximum-security facility.

His trial is not expected to take place for at least 18 months, with Anagnostopoulos set to languish in what has been described as one of Europe’s worst prisons.

A number of reports have found that it is controlled by violent gangs with prison wardens too afraid to patrol inside. Drugs are freely available with shipments organised by prisoners openly using mobile phones. 

A delegation from the Council of Europe that visited the prison last year found that up to seven people were crammed into mould-infested cells measuring just 9.5 square metres and that many slept on mattresses on the floor.

The delegation also said buildings at Korydallos holding between 230 to 430 people each were often overseen by just one prison officer ‘who clearly was not in a position to exert any authority or control.’

It described conditions inside the prison as ‘inhuman’ with prisoners subjected to ‘degrading treatment.’

Conditions in Korydallos are so bad in the prison that the country’s Government has vowed to shut it down.

The prison was opened in 1967 with a capacity for around 8,000 inmates but it is now estimated that it houses almost 13,000 prisoners.

Caroline’s killing has caused widespread shock in Greece with public anger running high against Anagnostopoulos and his attempts to play the grieving husband.

He appeared in court last week wearing a bullet proof vest and surrounded by police after confessing to his crime to officers.

Just hours before, astonishing images revealed the moment Anagnostopoulos hugged Caroline’s distraught mother at her memorial service last Wednesday before confessing to her killing shortly afterwards.

The embrace took place as detectives arrived to call him away from the service – claiming they had arrested a new suspect and needed his help to identify him.

In fact, the suspect that police wanted Anagnostopoulos to identify was himself – which he is said to have done during eight hours of interrogations.

Police announced late last Thursday that he had confessed to smothering Caroline during a fight at their home in the early hours of May 11.

Anagnostopoulos is said to have told officers that he threw her down on the bed and pressed her face into a pillow until she passed out, before realising he had killed her.

He then drowned the family dog in an area outside the home and removed the CCTV memory card which he snapped and flushed down the toilet.

After his confession was over, police left Anagnostopoulos

in the company of two psychologists and then announced his guilt to the world in a statement at 9.36pm local time last Thursday evening.