Weapon in cabbie murder used before, police say

The gun that was used in the murder of a 52-year-old taxi driver in Kifissia, northern Athens, on Tuesday night was the same as that used in a murder attempt on another driver last month, police said Thursday.

Ballistic tests on a bullet casing found in the cab of the driver who was shot in the head, revealed that the weapon was a retrofitted 22-caliber pistol, the same used in last month’s attack on a 32-year-old cabbie, also in Kifissia.

That driver survived and told police that the assailant looked around 30 years old. He also said in his deposition that the suspect got into his taxi in the northern suburb of Nea Erythraia and that he began to feel a burning sensation in his head as they approached Kifissia.

His vehicle stopped after he asked the suspect to pull the handbrake as he was about to faint. The suspect then snatched the car keys and fled.