Nationwide shock over young mother’s murder

A huge police investigation has been launched after three thieves strangled a young mother in front of her husband and 11-month-old child early Tuesday morning after breaking into her home in the northeastern Athens suburb of Glyka Nera.

According to police, the perpetrators broke a basement window at 5 a.m. and went up to the bedroom on the top floor where the 20-year woman was sleeping with her 33-year-old husband, a pilot, and their child.

They had already killed the family dog and hanged it from its leash on the handrail of the staircase.

They then bound the husband with rope and tape before doing the same to the woman, who they strangled because she was reportedly shouting and resisting.

The perpetrators fled with money and jewelry after forcing the man to reveal where they were kept.

According to what he told law enforcement officers, the husband then managed to crawl to his mobile phone and called police, who arrived a few minutes later and entered the house after breaking the door.

The husband said the perpetrators seemed to have spoken “good Greek.”

The young mother was born in Greece and was a holder of a British passport.

“The murder of the 20-year-old mother this morning is a heinous crime, committed with extreme ferocity. Such barbarism is rare for Greece,” said Hellenic Police (ELAS) spokesperson Theodoros Chronopoulos.