A 36-year-old man mentally unstable man was remanded in custody for three days in connection with the killing earlier this month of his mother, 65, after psychiatrists treating him declared him fit to stand trial.
Savvas Panteli was arrested after riding his moped to Ayios Dhometios police station in Nicosia on the morning of November 11, handing in two knives and allegedly admitting to the killing.
The suspect had not appeared in court following the killing, having been compulsorily hospitalised at Athalassa psychiatric hospital after being examined by a psychiatrist.
Reports say Panteli admitted he was angry with his mother as she had told him to leave the house, while at some other point in his statement he referred to not having understood he had taken her life.
He apparently told police that following the killing he had washed the knives before surrendering them.
The man was examined by state pathologist Angela Papetta shortly after the killing, and questioned by police, with reports at the time saying he appeared to be detached from his surroundings and unaware of what he had done.
The findings of an autopsy carried out on Elpiniki Kyriacou by Papetta, pointed to her being asleep and having no time to react when she was stabbed. She received three wounds to the neck and one to her right cheek, with no defensive injuries located.
The cause of death was recorded as haemorrhagic shock, with two of the neck wounds, nine centimetres deep and three wide considered fatal as they severed her carotid artery and larynx.
Officers, who arrived at the scene on Marathonos Street in Ayios Dhometios that morning, found the body of the woman lying face down in the bedroom. The street was cordoned off, with the state pathologist and crime-scene investigators called in.
Witnesses said they had heard the 36-year-old’s father shouting “he slaughtered Koulla,” as he ran out in the street, having just returned from dropping off a grandchild.
People who know the suspect told the Cyprus Mail that he lived with his parents and that he was suffering from psychological problems and had been treated at Athalassa in the past.
It is now expected he will be charged with killing.
