Man found murdered in his car

 

POLICE are investigating the murder of 22-year-old Andreas Papadopoulos from Lakatamia, who was found in his car with a gunshot wound to his head in the early hours of yesterday.

According to the police, Papadopoulos was found crouched over in his car’s passenger seat, parked outside a house on the Kokkinotrimithia – Paliometocho old road, in the Agioi Trimithias village in Nicosia.

The member of the public who found him at 4.20am, immediately notified the police, thinking Papadopoulos was just injured.

Police cordoned off the scene and scoured the area for evidence. 

An eye witness yesterday told the Cyprus Mail that the victim’s dog, who was in the car with him, was also shot in the snout, but survived.

The hit was reportedly drug-related. 

The head of Nicosia Police Headquarters, Kypros Michaelides, said the police found the victim in his car in the early hours of yesterday morning, after being informed by the member of public who came across the scene.

Michaelides clarified that the house outside of which Papadopoulos had parked wasn’t his, nor did he have any connection with it.

“Investigations are underway to determine the conditions under which (Papadopoulos) was found there and the reasons for why he was shot,” said Michaelides. “Preliminary investigations have shown that this person was shot at close range and intensive investigations and examinations are underway so we can figure out the reasons behind his death.”

Police yesterday began gathering statements from people close to the victim, in the hope of getting to the bottom of the murder.

“The specific person is indeed well known to the police, but obviously I can’t say much more on the matter,” said Michaelides.

State Pathologist Sophocles Sophocleous told reporters yesterday he had carried out a preliminary post mortem at the crime scene. A post mortem will also be carried out on the victim’s body to establish the official cause of death.

 

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.