Foreign woman found murdered in north identified

The foreign woman whose body was found near Tymbou (Ercan) airport in January, over whom suspicions were raised regarding the potential involvement of suspected serial killer Nicos Metaxas, was officially identified on Tuesday as Dam Thi Hop from Vietnam.

Dam Thi Hop, 40, worked as a domestic worker in the home of an elderly woman in the north. She disappeared in October 2017.

Her badly-decomposed body was found in January this year near the airport in the north.

As the multiple crimes of the 35-year-old army officer and suspected serial killer Metaxas unravelled last month, with police so far aware of seven murders of five foreign women and two children aged 6 and 8, suspicions were raised regarding Metaxas’ involvement in the murder of Hop.

These were based on the fact that the suspect appeared to have crossed often.

An investigation was launched by authorities in the north in April, when details of the crime were passed to the bicommunal committee on crime and criminal matters.

Later in April, co-president of the committee Hakki Onen announced that Metaxas may not be involved in the murder of Hop, as the way in which the 40-year-old was murdered does not appear to correlate with the other dead women.

Of the five bodies of Metaxas’ murder victims that have so far been found, the cause of death of two has been identified as strangulation, whereas Hop was murdered by multiple knife stabbings.

Onen added that there is no proof to link Metaxas to the murder of Hop and noted that the suspect’s frequent visits to the north do not constitute strong incriminating evidence.

According to Turkish Cypriot media, the body of Hop will be sent to her relatives in Vietnam.

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