Ani’s father tells court he took 3 days to cut up her body

A 27-year-old Bulgarian national accused of killing and dismembering his 4-year-old daughter last year insisted Wednesday before an Athens court that he did not kill the girl. He did however admit to cutting her up, a process which he said took three days.

In a grim testimony which led Ani’s mother to leave the courtroom, Stanislav Bakardjiev said he found his daughter dead on the morning of Good Friday last April, panicked and then started dismembering her body on the advice of a friend.

He said it took him three days to cut up and dispose of the body, adding that he sold his daughter’s tablet computer to get money for the drugs he took over those three days.

Last week, the head of the Athens Coroner Service testified that Ani was dismembered while still alive, a claim refuted by another coroner put on the stand by the defense who said she was cut up after her death.

Bakardjiev has argued that responsibility for the girl’s death lies with the second defendant in the trial, 30-year-old Nazif Ahmedov, a friend and former roommate, who has denied the charges.