File of police officers in serial killer case goes to state legal service

The files concerning the criminal prosecution of 15 police officers over the way they handled the reported disappearance of five women and two children who were the victims of serial killer Nikos Metaxas have been sent to the state legal service, it was announced on Tuesday.

Head of the independent committee investigating complaints against police members Andreas Paschalides said the attorney-general will now study the material and prepare the charge sheets so the case is filed in court.

The group, which includes constables, sergeants and officers, face a single charge relating to failure to perform their duties.

Paschalides said that after delivering the files in question, the committee’s role is completed.

Army officer Metaxas, 36, admitted to killing the five women and the daughters of two of them after the accidental discovery of the body of one of his victims in April 2019, in a mine shaft at Mitsero.

By June last year, police had recovered the other victims at the mine, in a nearby lake, in a field near a firing range, and at another lake some kilometres away.

Police were heavily criticised for allegedly mishandling the cases when some of the victims were reported missing by friends and family, and not treating the disappearances seriously.

Metaxas was sentenced in June 2019 to five consecutive life sentences for the premeditated murder of five women and two concurrent life sentences for the murder of the two girls aged 6 and 8.

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