MURDER suspect Elena Skordelli was so envious of Sigma channel colleague Elita Michaelidou that the psychic she was visiting feared for Michaelidou’s life after Andis Hadjicostis was murdered, the Nicosia court heard yesterday.
Prosecution witness and psychic Kathleen Zachariou said that Skordelli was spiteful of Michaelidou because the latter had her own talk show and got along well with the channel owners, father and son, Costas and Andis Hadjicostis.
“I contacted and met Michaelidou after the Hadjicostis’ murder, because of what Skordelli had mentioned in our meetings…she was jealous of her… I thought Michaelidou’s life was in immediate danger” Zachariou said.
Skordelli is accused of being one of the masterminds behind the attack on Hadjicostis who was gunned down outside his home in Engomi late in the evening in January 2010.
The former TV presenter is considered the mastermind of the shooting after Fanos Hadjigeorgiou, the confessed getaway driver at the shooting, and chief state’s witness identified her as such.
The psychic revealed that during four or five meetings since 2007, Skordelli had provided her with several pictures of the victim and his father, stating that Andis Hadjicostis was responsible for her stagnating career.
Skordelli, according to the prosecution witness, had pleaded with the psychic to use her special powers to “clear all obstacles” holding back her TV career.
The psychic stated that, by using her special powers to read pictures, she told Skordelli that the real obstacle in her career was Hadjicostis’ father, Costas.
“It was then that Skordelli told me to send good vibes towards Andis Hadjicostis so that they could have a love affair,” Zachariou said.
“Skordelli explained that this is what happens in the world of the media, one must jump into several beds if they are to advance in their career” she said.
According to Zachariou, she explained to Skordelli that she could not help her forge a love affair with the younger Hadjicostis, as these matters were determined by every man’s free will.
Zachariou was allowed to stand as a witness after the court had overruled three different objections by the three defence attorneys on the case.
Also on trial for the murder are Skordelli’s brother Tasos Krasopoulis – the second alleged mastermind in the murder-, Andreas Gregoriou the alleged fixer, and Gregoris Xenophontos, the alleged shooter.
Michalakis Kyprianou, representing Skordelli, claimed that the witness’ testimony was irrelevant, which rendered its value “insignificant.”
Krasopoulis’ lawyer, Marios Georgiou disagreed with Kyprianou’s assessment, claiming that the relationship between the psychic and Skordelli was one of the confidential doctor-patient; as Zachariou was “a doctor, a psychic and a healer of Chinese medicine.”
Zachariou was asked to provide receipts of her meetings with Skordelli as well as the address of the institute where she acquired the certificate of her qualifications.
The psychic said that she did not hang on the receipts since a lot of time had passed, while she is expected to provide further information on qualifications once the court re-convenes next Monday.
CID officer and prosecution witness, Leonidas Gennadiou who was part of the murder’s investigation team was also grilled by the defence yesterday.
The defence questioned Gennadiou on why the police had not acquired footage from the CCTV circuit in place outside the American Embassy, which apparently had a clear view of Ayia Eleni Street, where the murder took place.
Gennadiou clarified that he was following clear instructions on where to conduct the investigation and said that another colleague had been in charge of further investigations.
The defence once again lambasted the investigation conducted by the police, claiming that the police had “selectively gathered pictures from CCTV circuits which could support the testimony the force wanted to promote.”
