Police locate fourth murder suspect

POLICE officers investigating the murder of media mogul Andis Hadjicostis a week ago have made contact with a fourth suspect who is said to have fled abroad – perhaps to Moldova – and have urged him to return to Cyprus to help their investigation, Police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos said yesterday.
“Based on our investigations so far, there are strong indications that the fourth suspect is abroad,” Katsounotos said.
He added that police investigators had managed to contact the suspect, had told him that a warrant had been issued for his arrest, and urged him to return to Cyprus to help the police with their enquiries.
The police have officially named the fourth suspect as Gregoris Xenofontos, 29, from Nicosia, and released his photograph for circulation. Katsounotos indicated that if Xenofontos does not return to the island of his own accord, the police are prepared to ask for an international arrest warrant to be issued.
Xenofontos is suspected of having directed the murderers’ movements both before and after the murder, giving them the information they needed to get away cleanly from scene. Apart from the two men who used a powerful motorbike in carrying out the murder, CCTV footage obtained by the police is said to show a third man on a second motorbike in the area around the time of the murder.
The suspect is said to be married to a Moldovan woman, and is believed to have fled abroad, perhaps to Moldova. In a bizarre twist, a reporter from SIGMA TV – part of the Hadjicostis media empire – had a phone conversation in the last few days with someone claiming to be Xenofontos, and the phone-call was broadcast on SIGMA’s Saturday evening news bulletin.
During the call, the man claiming to be Xenofontos denied any knowledge of the murder, and claimed he was being framed. He said that he had heard that his house had been searched by police, which did not surprise him, as he was on friendly terms with the three men already in custody and expected the police would also be interested in questioning him.
The man admitted that he had left for Moldova two days after Monday’s murder, but said that this was a pre-planned holiday that was scheduled to last six weeks.
Katsounotos also said yesterday that new evidence had been uncovered that would allow the police to apply for a further court order for the release of the phone records of the three suspects currently in custody. The police obtained a court order last Thursday to examine the phone records of seven people in relation to the case.
The police spokesman said that because of the intensity and scope of media speculation surrounding the murder of Hadjicostis, as from today there will be a formal police moratorium on verbal statements by the police regarding the status of the investigation into the crime.
“Despite our repeated requests for a limit to be put on conjecture and speculation around the identity of the instigators or the motives for this particular criminal action, it is clear to us that every day references are being made which are untrue,” he said. “What is more, it is clear that damage is being done to the course of the investigation, people are being maligned and public figures tarnished, and potentially, if and when the case comes to court, it might be corrupted by these media stories. I direct a last-minute warm entreaty that these phenomena be limited.”
He added: “In relation to progress made in the ongoing investigations or for any other significant or objective developments, we shall issue written announcements if it is deemed necessary to bring anything to public attention.”
The three men arrested so far in connection with the murder all continue to deny any involvement.