‘Victim’s blood was on suspect’s boot’

A BLOODSTAIN on a Pakistani defendant’s left boot matched a murder victim’s DNA, the Nicosia Assizes Court said yesterday.

The trial over the murder last July of 38-year-old contractor Pavlos Christodoulou, resumed yesterday with testimony from the genetics expert who tested all the evidence collected by police.

Christodoulou’s wife Magda Eleftheriou, 32, Zeeshan Asghar,22, and his 28-year-old Chinese roommate Yu Hong Bo have pleaded not guilty to premeditated murder and conspiracy charges.

Christodoulou was been beaten over the head and then burnt in the boot of his BMW.
DNA expert Marios Kariolou told the court that a bloodstain found on beige boots belonging to Asghar matched the genetic material taken from the victim.

He said the stain, which was still visible, was on the left boot; a second bloodstain, found on the right boot, was matched to Asghar’s DNA.

And a white towel with bloodstains that was seized at Asghar’s flat was also matched his DNA, the court heard.

Kariolou also showed the court the bloodstains on the metal pipes, which were used to hit Christodoulou.

Apart from the victim’s DNA, no other genetic material was isolated from the pipes, the expert said.

All along, Asghar watched the expert pointing the bloodstains on the pipes with a blank look on his face.

The court heard that bloodstains found in various spots at the scenes of the crime also belonged to Christodoulou.

Bo’s lawyer, Andreas Eftihiou, asked Kariolou whether blood could be transferred from one pipe to another if they came into contact.

The expert did not rule out such a possibility, as long as this happened while the blood was fresh.

He added, however, that the possibility of transfer in this case was very slim, due to the small quantity of blood.

The trial continues today with the testimony of the translator who was involved in Asghar’s interrogation.

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