Serial killer trial in Cyprus stalled due to missing evidence
The trial of a suspected serial killer in Cyprus was pushed back for at least another week, as Cypriot police are still trying to gather crucial evidence in the case and the search for two slain victims continues.
Alleged serial killer Nikos Metaxas, who was to be arraigned later this week upon the expiration of his fifth remand, is expected to be remanded once again on Wednesday due to missing evidence.
The suspect, also known to his victims as "Orestis," has reportedly confessed seven murders of foreign females, including five adults and two children. Five bodies have been recovered, while the young daughter of one of the slain victims and another adult female are still missing.
Prosecutors are said to be apprehensive about the search for the body of 30-year-old Filipina Maricar Valdez Arquiola, who went missing in December 2017. Maricar’s case, unlike all others, is filled with incriminating evidence against Orestis, who is reportedly linked to the murder with incontrovertible evidence.
According to local media, toxicology reports are still pending on the five corpses recovered thus far, while it is still unclear whether the cause of death for any of the victims has been stated officially.
Leave no stone unturned
Fire Department Chief Marcos Trangolas, who has been overseeing the search for bodies in rural Nicosia, says efforts will continue at the Red Lake where two bodies in suitcases – mother and daughter – linked to the case have already been retrieved. Maricar’s body is believed to be in a third suitcase at the lake, while 6-year-old Sierra Graze Seucalliuc is believed to be at the bottom of Memi Lake.
"The order I have from above is to exhaust all possibilities in locating the victims,” Trangolas told media on Monday. This would give divers approximately two more weeks at the Red lake, where Israeli experts with special equipment joined local divers in the search according to media reports.
“The divers go under water on a daily basis from the morning until late in the afternoon. We will need around 15 days especially at the Red Lake to exhaust all possibilities and these are the orders I have been given. To exhaust every possible chance in the search of the victims,” Trangolas said.
[Kathimerini Cyprus]
