Murder victim probably a British tourist

A MAN thought to be a 41-year-old British tourist was found battered to death yesterday morning near the old port of Limassol.

Two soldiers came across the body at 2am yesterday, close to the seafront, and face down in the mud.

Pathologist Sophoclis Sophocleous, who carried out an autopsy on the scene, said lacerations to the man’s head and face indicated he had died from multiple blows with a blunt instrument, possibly a metal crowbar.

"We checked hotels in the area. At one hotel there was a report of a Briton who was missing. We saw his passport and the photo has a resemblance to the victim," Limassol divisional police commander Charalambos Koulendis said yesterday.

The man, who had recently come to Cyprus, had been missing since Wednesday afternoon from the hotel where he had been staying.

Police found the man’s passport in his room. They declined to release his name, saying they were contacting the man’s family through Interpol to confirm the identification of the body.

Forensic evidence suggested the man had been beaten to death 30 metres from where he was found, and probably dragged towards the sea in an attempt to dispose of the body.

No murder weapon has been found.

Police said that a motorcycle, found by a member of the public in the sea near the Famagusta Sailing Club a couple of kilometres away, could have been used by the suspected killer to flee the scene. They believe only one person was involved in the savage murder.

The motorcycle was stolen the same morning from an apartment block 200 metres from where it was found.

Police said that the owner had not reported its disappearance.

They have ruled out theft as a motive for the killing, since money and personal effects were found on the victim.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.