Four found guilty of premeditated murder of Thanasis Kalogeropoulos

The Limassol permanent criminal court found four men guilty of the premeditated murder of Thanasis Kalogeropoulos on Friday, a verdict that carries a mandatory life sentence. The court concluded that the guilt of all four was proven “beyond all reasonable doubt” and that the killing was the result of pre-planning. The men, aged between 23 and 46, faced 11 charges between them, with the court also finding them guilty of the remaining counts, which included conspiracy to commit murder, possession, transport and use of firearms, as well as arson. The 24-year-old, who also faced a charge of aiding and abetting murder, was cleared of that count. Kalogeropoulos, 55, was killed on October 30, 2023, in a car park next to a beach restaurant on Amathus Avenue in Limassol, on his way to a morning swim; a post-mortem found he had been shot ten times. Police said he was shot at close range from a vehicle by two people, one using a pistol and the other a Kalashnikov. The attackers then set fire to their getaway vehicle and left on a motorcycle. Kalogeropoulos was “well known to authorities” for his previous involvement in organised crime. Police had alleged that the 24-year-old was the mastermind of the plot and that another defendant was one of the two gunmen. They said the oldest defendant owned the house where the killing was planned and the youngest was the getaway driver. The defendants will now be sentenced, with premeditated murder carrying a mandatory life term under Cypriot law.