AN AUDIO visual expert yesterday identified in court yesterday the vehicles said to have been used to shadow and ambush the late Sigma owner Andis Hadjicostis.
State witness Grigoras Catalin, a Romanian national, took the stand to present his analysis of video footage and photographs of two vehicles – a motorcycle and a van.
Footage of the motorcycle came from cameras installed outside the Finlandia taxi office, located in close proximity to the crime scene in Engomi, Nicosia where Hadjicostis was killed in January 2010. Video recordings of the van from CCTV cameras were installed at the house of Fanos Hadjigeorgiou.
Previously, Hadjigeorgiou said in court that the motorcycle in question belongs to defendant Andreas Gregoriou, whom he describes as the fixer in the plans to murder the owner of Sigma.
Hadjigeorgiou, who has received immunity in exchange for testifying against the four defendants in the case, further claims that he drove the same bike away from the crime scene, with alleged shooter Gregoris Xenofontos riding pillion.
Hadjicostis died after being shot twice at close range. The murder weapon, reportedly a sawed-off shotgun, has never been found.
In the Nicosia Criminal Court yesterday, the audiovisual expert said that in May 2010 police asked him to analyse video footage and photographs, contained on a computer hard disk. After examining the evidence, he presented authorities with a report in September of the same year.
Catalin said that after detailed analysis of the footage from the Finlandia cameras he concluded that the motorcycle caught on tape was the same as that depicted in photographs of Gregoriou’s motorcycle –corroborating Hadjigeorgiou’s story.
The expert said also that, using resolution enhancement techniques, the footage shows two men riding on the motorcycle.
Earlier in the trial, the defence argued that the video depicts only one man, who they claim is Hadjigeorgiou and that Hadjigeorgiou alone committed the murder and then framed others to get off the hook.
Regarding the van, Catalin said the vehicle appearing in CCTV video from Hadjigeorgiou’s residence was the same as that depicted in a photograph that was furnished by police and belongs to defendant Xenofontos.
The recording shows the van arriving at Hadjigeorgiou’s residence shortly before the time of the murder.
The trial continues today with the expert undergoing cross-examination by the defence.
Hadjigeorgiou claims to have made the run from the murder scene to Peristerona in under 15 minutes – an allegation which the defence has tried to rubbish.
The state prosecution’s case rests on the premise that former TV show host Elena Skordelli plotted to have Hadjicostis murdered due to financial disputes.
