Former cop to be sentenced for wife’s murder

By Penelope Karaolis

Former police officer, Nicos Iordanous, who was found guilty of murdering his wife Stavroula in December 2012, will sentenced on Friday, the Larnaca Criminal Court ruled at a mitigation hearing on Wednesday.

During proceedings, defence lawyer Kypros Andreou, argued for a reduced sentence.  Andreou told the court that Iordanous needed to take care of his 41-year old son who suffers from thalasseamia and lives alone in Nicosia.

Iordanous was found guilty of murder on June 21.

According to the police, Stavroulla Iordanous was found dead in her apartment in Aradippou on the night of December 10, 2012. The cause of death was a gunshot to the head from a hunting gun lying next to her. First responders found Iordanous unconscious in a doorway and rushed him to hospital.

When he came around, Iordanous claimed that he was sleeping in his bedroom when the gunshot woke him. He went to the living room and found his wife sitting on the couch dead, with his hunting gun next to her.

Police reports quickly concluded that this was an unlikely scenario. Investigators argued in court that the wound at the back of her head and above the left ear, suggested that the gun was held at an angle where the victim couldn’t reach the trigger.

Investigators also argued that if the gun was indeed in her mouth, the damage would be far greater. Finally, they pointed out that the gun should be soaked with blood, but forensic experts only found drops on the gun’s barrel, and also that the gun had been neatly placed after the shooting.

Prosecution presented witnesses saying that the couple fought constantly and that Iordanous had an extramarital affair. The couple also argued about their apartment, with Iordanous claiming that he should have sole ownership.

 

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