A CROWDED court house yesterday watched graphic footage of the crime scene where media boss Andis Hadjicostis was murdered outside his Nicosia home.
It was day two of the trial of television presenter Elena Skordelli, 42, her 37-year-old brother Tasos Krasopoulis, and meat supplier Andreas Gregoriou, 33, who have been charged with the premeditated murder of the Sigma boss.
The three defendants are accused of conspiring to murder Hadjicostis, specifically meeting to discuss the matter in the Nicosia village of Pera Orinis at some point in December last year, along with Gregoris Xenofontos – the alleged shooter — and Theophanis Hadjigeorgiou.
An arrest warrant has been issued for Xenofontos who escaped abroad, while Hadjigeorgiou was acquitted of all charges and entered into a witness protection programme after agreeing to testify against the others.
All three deny the charges, which carry a mandatory life sentence.
Forty-two-year old Hadjicostis was shot from close range outside his Engomi home on January 11 after just getting home from work after 9pm. Prosecutors yesterday presented the court with the crime scene video shot shortly after the murder.
The video showed Hadjicostis on his back near his car, eyes open, his shirt soaked in blood. Officers lifted the shirt up, showing a large wound on his chest.
The body is then turned over with officers pointing at a cluster of nine pellet-wounds on his back. It is believed he was shot with a sawn-off shotgun using large gauge pellets – first on the back and then the fatal shot in the chest.
The video also shows a motorcycle visor found not far from the spot where Hadjicostis was shot.
The defence asked for the footage not to be shown in court, arguing that photographs of the crime scene had already been admitted as evidence and the video would delay the proceedings.
The prosecution said the footage was part of the evidence and showing it would spare the court of having to visit the crime scene.
Inspector Giorgos Anastasiou who was responsible for the crime scene also testified yesterday about the evidence collected. The defence put it to Anastasiou that two motorcycle tyre tracks were found on the scene and not one as the police claim.
Anastasiou said he found only one track, adding that the ground next to where it was found was too hard for anything to leave a print.
Over 100 witnesses are expected to testify in the trial, which continues today.
