TWENTY-nine-year-old murder suspect Eftychia Zari has allegedly confessed to shooting her sister in the head at close range but denies it was premeditated.
The Nicosia private teacher is believed to have given a lawyer an 11-page statement on Tuesday describing events leading up to the August 16 killing of her 25-year-old sister Eleni, which she claims was unplanned.
Earlier that day, investigators had tirelessly attempted to get the suspect to talk to them about what had happened last Saturday, but she is said to have remained tight-lipped.
“For hours, we tried to talk to her and she said nothing. She refused to co-operate or to confess what happened. She just sat there for hours,” a police source said.
But reports said Eftychia, who was described by witnesses as appearing emotionally balanced, just “full of hate for certain people”, later talked to a lawyer confessing she had in fact pulled the trigger and killed her younger sister.
Although her confession was deemed necessary as part of the ongoing investigation, the women’s older sister had actually witnessed what had happened and had already fingered the 29-year-old as the killer.
In her statement, Eftychia allegedly referred to the bad relations she had with the rest of her family and how she felt no one in her family wanted her.
The night before the shooting, she and Eleni had had a huge row, she added. The row took place when Eftychia, who having recently completed her university studies and was living in an apartment on her own, was transporting some personal belongings back into their family home with a view to moving back in. She confessed that it was this same day that she took the hunting rifle to her parents’ home where less than 24 hours later the shooting took place.
Nevertheless, Eftychia told the lawyer that under no circumstances had she intended to use the weapon to kill her sister. Instead she claims her mind clouded over because her sister had mocked her, and that is when she shot her.
Based on this, the suspect has reportedly appealed to the Legal Services to have the charges dropped from premeditated murder to manslaughter. The Attorney-general’s office response is still pending.
The sisters’ parents are also believed to have given police their own statements regarding the shooting.
