Coroner tells court 4-year-old Annie was cut up while still alive

The coroner who inspected the body of a 4-year-old girl who was allegedly killed last year by her father, on Friday told a court that the girl had been alive when she was mutilated.

The witness, Nikos Karakoukis, who also inspected the crime scene, told the court that he was 95 percent certain 4-year-old Annie had been alive when she was dismembered.

He said traces of her blood at her Athens home were found at a great distance from the body, indicating that he blood had spattered during the cutting process – something that would not have happened if she were dead.

The girl’s father, a Bulgarian national, recently admitted in court to cutting up her dead body last year, but he denied killing her.

He argued in court that responsibility for the girl’s death lay with the second defendant, a friend and former roommate, who has denied the charges.

The victim’s mother is accused of covering for the killers. She allegedly worked as a prostitute to support the child.