Caroline Crouch: Judge must decide who will look after baby Lydia as killer husband gets disowned by his family
A JUDGE has to decide who will care for the baby of murdered Caroline Crouch after she wrote details of her unhappy marriage in her diary before her death.
Babis Anagnostopoulos, 33, admitted killing 20-year-old Caroline in a fit of rage and staged a fake robbery after she threatened to divorce him and take their daughter Lydia.
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Lydia had been cared for by her father until he was charged with strangling his wife and killing their dog on Wednesday.
The judge now has to decide if her mother’s relatives in Alonissos will look after her or if Anagnostopoulos's family should.
The pilot has been told by his younger brother Fotis, that he only has sympathy for Caroline’s parents, Susan and David.
Babis’ brother has remained on Alonissos, the idyllic island where Caroline spent most of her life after her parents settled in Greece, to "comfort her parents."
A pal on the island told SunOnline: "He is in a state of shock and absolutely distraught. All of his sympathy is with Susan and David. He wants nothing to do with his brother."
Babis’ being charged with the brutal murder of his own wife has reportedly had a devastating effect on his family, well-respected members in their professions: his father is an architect and his mother a teacher.
It comes as:
- Caroline's husband confessed to killing his wife
- He was described as a "top actor" by police
- Caroline's mum didn't suspect her daughter's husband "for a second"
- Caroline's diary reveals she was planning to leave her husband
- Babis admitted he was planning to hide Caroline's body
- Caroline's smartwatch showed her heart rate surged as husband "smothered her"
Hiraklia Thoedorou, a close friend of Caroline's Filipina mum, told Greek media: "If you knew their parents, they are like saints, very educated.
"I don't know how they will handle this. Babis and Fotis meant everything to them. They gave them their all."
The parents have been looking after Lydia, Caroline's eleventh-month-old daughter, since May 11th, but now a public prosecutor has been assigned with deciding whose custody the child should now be given.
Anagnostopoulos, who placed the baby next to her mother after he strangled her, said via his Greek lawyer that his “first concern is our child Lydia and her being well in our families," referring to his and Caroline's parents.
The heli-pilot is currently being detained in the holding cells of the seventh floor of Athens' 12-story police headquarters.
His lawyer Vassilis Spryou said his client's only concern was his daughter acknowledging that he had expressed fears the little girl may end up being taken in by a different family and he could "lose her."
"The only thing that interests him is his child," he told Skai news.
"His main concern is his child's future because he has heard different things about his child going to a foster family, that he will lose her from his life."
Spyrou revealed that both families were in conversation "and in agreement" about the baby girl's future and that Babis' parents wanted to raise Lydia.
David, Caroline's father, has serious health issues and has been homebound for years.
Speaking to Open TV, the pilot's second lawyer, Alexandros Papioannides, insisted that Caroline's murder had not been pre-meditated.
He said: "The murder wasn't pre-meditated and there was no involvement of a third person.
"No one knows why he did it. Words are very inadequate to express what he told me. He conveyed his love for Caroline's family and said sorry."
During an interview, he told murder cops how Caroline "shook" as he pressed the "weight of my body" as her face rested on the pillow, Protothema reports.
He also told them he managed to tie his hands behind his legs and then "tied my legs to the boards of the bed".
Previously it had been revealed that black belt kickboxer Caroline had fought her husband for ten minutes before she died.
Babis spent more than a month claiming his wife was a victim of a gang of Albanian thieves who broke into the couple's home in Glyka Nera, near Athens.
The helicopter pilot has been described as a "top-class actor" by police as he was pretending to be devastated by his wife's death for 38 days.
Cops travelled to the island of Alonnisos where a memorial service for Caroline took place and asked him to follow them in order to give new testimony about the murder probe.
It is reported he told cops he "panicked" when he realised he had killed Caroline after holding her down in bed as the couple were having a late night row.
He also said he was considering hiding her body in a bid to mislead the police and claimed he did so because he didn't want his daughter to grow up without parents.
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He even admitted killing the family's puppy in order to make the crime scene more plausible.
Meanwhile, heart-breaking entries of Caroline's diary revealed the couple's troubled relationship and that the young mum was planning to leave Babis for a long time.
Caroline's stunned mother admitted she did not suspect her daughter's husband "for a second."
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Babis arrived to court yesterday, wearing a bullet-proof vest and was charged with intentional homicide and animal abuse as well as with false accusations.
He remains in custody at Hellenic Police Attica Headquarters and is expected to present his defence on Tuesday.
HOW YOU CAN GET HELP:
Women's Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, where you call 999 and press ‘55’ if you can’t safely speak.
- Always keep some money or a bank card on you, including change in case you need a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to move towards an exit if you are inside the house and get your phone in case you need to call for help.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other potential weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom.
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service - available every day from 10am-6pm or email helpline@womensaid.org.uk
SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – messageinfo@supportline.org.uk.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.