Suspected hitman’s associates under scrutiny as plot thickens
A LIMASSOL man, believed to have been working closely with a wanted hitman who was killed in a traffic accident on September 24, has been arrested and remanded in custody.
The 51-year-old suspect, Andronikos Philipou, who was yesterday remanded for four days by a Limassol Criminal Court, is believed to have been a close friend of Mariou.
Andreas Mariou, 39, was killed in a motorbike accident but as investigations into the victim’s identity began to take place, police were faced with the shocking possibility that the dead motorcyclist was in fact a hired killer wanted by Interpol.
Further investigations revealed that Mariou was wanted in connection with two murders in Holland, on false passport charges in France, while he had been jailed in the UK for the attempted murder of a British police officer.
Police sources have also said Mariou could have been behind the murders of Georgios Kyprou, a.k.a. Fantik, Kleonas Papadopoulou and Christos Leventopoulos.
Police believe Mariou may well have been connected with the assassinations of another two men.
All were killed by an assailant on a motorcycle.
The motorcycle on which Mariou crashed is believed to have been the same motorcycle as was used in the killings of the three men.
The chief investigator in the case yesterday told the court that Philipou, who is from the Limassol village of Pachnas, had twice signed as a witness on for apartment contracts which were rented by Mariou on December 22, 2004 and March 3, 2006.
Each time, according to the investigator, Philipou had introduced Mariou to the estate agent as Giorgos Legakis.
Another man who had also signed the contract was, according to the suspect, a relative of Mariou calling himself Melis Charalambous.
A police announcement later stated that they were on the lookout for a 59-year-old Cypriot man, who lives abroad, in connection with the case.
That man, according to police sources, went by the name of Charalambous.
Previously, Mariou’s 27-year-old Belgian wife, his 25-year-old cousin from Larnaca and a 47-year-old female friend of theirs from Turkey, were all arrested and are now facing prospective charges of committing a crime and possession of arms and bullets.
The two women also face charges of possession and use of drugs, while Mariou’s cousin is facing charges of fraud after admitting to providing Mariou with a fake driver’s licence, so police wouldn’t recognise him if he was stopped for a traffic check.
It is believed that Charalambous had a close working relationship with the 47-year-old Turkish woman.
The investigator also told the court that one of the houses, which was rented by Mariou under the name Georgos Legakis, was the storing place for many of his weapons and ammunition believed to have been used in the some of the assassinations.
Speaking to state radio yesterday, Deputy Director of Nicosia Police Kypros Michaelides said that some people who knew about the activities of Mariou are now in danger in light of all that is being unearthed.
“Some individuals are either being watched or guarded by the police because they could be targeted by some people in the underworld in light of the investigations.”
He added that a Nicosia man, a Greek Cypriot, is being closely guarded by police after police discovered a photograph of him in Mariou’s apartment in Nicosia. Police believe that the man, who has troubled police in the past, was a target for assassination by Mariou.
The discovery of Mariou, said Michaelides, has also allowed investigators to reopen cold case files.
“Investigators of the Nicosia Crime Division have reopened unsolved murder cases dating back to at least four years ago. We are currently looking into whether some of the weapons found were used on victims in previous unsolved cases.”
Michaelides also said that “the investigations are on good road with the chances of apprehending the mastermind in the assassinations and the accomplice of Mariou now stronger than ever.”
