The Limassol criminal court on Tuesday heard how a man stabbed to death three people and then told the father of two of them to come and collect their bodies.
Christakis Thoma took the stand on Tuesday, reading the statements he gave police following the night of November 24, 2015 during which he killed siblings Paraschos, 19, and Constantinos Ntorzi, 21, as well as their friend Emilios Miltiadous, 24.
“I know I made a mistake. I killed three people and I don’t know how to deal with it,” he told police after his arrest.
Thoma blamed the incident on the woman he was involved with who allegedly convinced the brothers to harass one of his children because he had asked her to break up.
On the fateful night, he said, the two brothers had called and threatened him because he had sent a message of a sexual nature to Paraschos’ fiancé.
They met outside the restaurant owned by Thomas’ father at Platia Iroon and after having words, Thoma punched Paraschos and went to the kitchen where he took a knife.
Thoma chased the three men in the streets around the square, crossing Anexartisias Avenue where he stabbed Paraschos twice.
He then chased Miltiadous, whom he stabbed after hitting him in the face with the handle of the knife.
Thoma went on to hunt down the second brother whose mobile phone rang just as he fell dead.
The defendant said he picked it up and saw that it was the brothers’ father.
“Are you happy now with what I’ve done to them. Come and collect them,” Thoma said.
He returned to the restaurant where he continued to work after dumping the knife in a bin.
Thoma said he asked a friend for help to escape to the north but on the way to Pyla, in Larnaca, he changed his mind and sought refuge in an abandoned house in Lania.
He said he was ready to surrender just before his arrest.
“I had no intention of killing anyone. A black screen appeared before me, it was blurry. I haven’t slept since that day. I regretted and if only God can forgive me. I want to say sorry to my children,” Thoma told police in his first statement.
Questioned by his lawyer, Thoma denied sending Paraschos’ fiancé a message.
Because of a joke “we ended up having three dead, me in jail, and our families suffering.”
He also denied sending his ex a text message that he was going to commit a crime of passion, as she had claimed. Thoma said these were lies that she created in her mind.
The defendant said he was forced to break up with her after she started seeing the relationship seriously while he only wanted it to be sexual.
The prosecution will cross examine Thoma on January 18.
