A murder in an Athens suburbs shakes the community | Forensic Files

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preferred platform [Music] it was around 430 a.m. on Tuesday May 11 2021 when haralambos
anopolis better known as babus was violently woken in bed babus rented a two-story masonet in
the affluent suburb of glicka on the outskirts of Athens Greece he had little time to react as
three intruders wearing hoods and motorcycle bavers grabbed him a scuffle ensued but babus was
quickly overpowered by The Men Who were armed with pistols they swiftly tied babus up and
blindfolded him with duct tape babbus could do little as The Intruders launched on his wife
19-year-old Caroline Crouch the chaos startled the couple's 11-month-old daughter who was sleeping
close by and began to cry the men spoke in broken Greek with Albanian accents they repeatedly asked
where is the money days earlier babus and Caroline had bought a plot of land to build their
dream family home Caroline's parents had gifted them €50,000 to facilitate the purchase in preparation for construction
costs the couple had hidden a little over €10,000 in their house it was common for people in Greece to
store cash at home as the banks were unreliable and in constant risk of bankruptcy wanting to end their torment
quickly babis told The Intruders exactly where they could find the money it was stored inside a Monopoly board game
box the men pocketed the loot but remained in the house roaming from room to room snatching jewelry and other
valuables they demand landed more money with nothing else to offer all babus and Caroline could do was beg for
their lives The Intruders then held a gun against the baby's head Caroline began
screaming babis couldn't see what was happening but his wife's panicked screams soon fell
silent babus fought desperately against his restraints the tape around his neck was
painfully tight and he kept drifting in and out of Consciousness babis awoke after one
fainting spell to discover the man had gone the only thing he could hear was his daughter
wailing it took about half an hour but babus finally maneuvered himself over to his mobile
phone using his nose he dialed the number for emergency services [Music] upon hearing the operator on the other
line Babas cried out help help ambulance ambulance the duct tape around his mouth muffled
his words and he was barely intelligible the operator asked him to calm down and explain what was going
on robbers came in was all babis managed before he broke down where are you the operator asked
glicka glicka babis yelled by the time First Responders arrived it was approaching 6:00 a.m.
they raced up the front steps and entered the home the living space and kitchen had
been ransacked drawers were open and empty with belongings and clothing strewn about a monopoly box lay open on the
floor a small indoor security camera had been torn off a living room wall and left behind a couch its memory card was
missing dangling from a staircase banister was a brown and white husky puppet she was hanging by her own leash
dad upstairs in the main bedroom police found Baba sanog stopus on the floor his
hands and feet restrained tightly behind his back his eyes and mouth were covered in
duct tape that circled down to his neck laying face down on the bed nearby was Caroline
Crouch her baby girl was half on top of her crying while clapping pushing and hitting her mother's body doing anything
she could to Rouse her although the baby was in distress she was physically unharmed Caroline on the other hand was
so pale it was immediately clear she was [Music] deceased babus was released when he saw
his wife's body he was visibly shocked his Carol BL dad he asked before cradling his infant
daughter once the child was safe with an officer babus detailed the violent home
invasion based on his account and an examination of the crime scene police concluded that three men had broken in
while a fourth kept a watch outside they' likely followed an obscured dirt path that led to the rear
of the house upon failing to break into a back door they removed security pins from a basement window and climbed in
through that once inside the men silenced the family's 7-month-old husky Roxy by
choking her with her leash and throwing her over the banister strangling her to death the men then confronted babis and
Caroline asleep in the bedroom they spent over an hour ransacking the house before Caroline was
smothered to death with a pillow a coroner concluded Caroline had endured an agonizing not instant death with the
attack lasting up to 6 minutes bruising on her lips and tongue appeared to have been caused by a sharp
object other bruises across Caroline's body indicated she'd put up a fight but there were no signs of sexual
assault babis's description of coming in and out of Consciousness suggests he had
suffered hypoxia a potentially fatal lack of oxygen The Intruders likely mistook
babis for dead and left thinking there were no witnesses to their crime babus would have died too had his
attackers not inadvertently left him with a tiny field of vision through his duct tape
blindfold this enabled him to find his nightand where his mobile phone was located despite the Damage Done to the
couple's home the perpetrators had left no clear evidence behind yet one of the men's bavs had
slipped during the initial struggle with babus and he'd gotten a brief glimpse of
the man a composite sketch was created depicting a tall dark skinned overweight male who was under 30 years
old babus was also able to identify two of the handguns the asants were carrying
a silver cult and a black pistol all up the perpetrators escaped with over €1,000 in cash and around € 20,000
worth of jewelry police were certain those responsible were professional criminals they had likely watched Babas
and Caroline for some time familiarizing themselves with the family's routine before choosing the opportune moment to
strike while gang L killings were not unusual in grece the slaughter of a mother in front of her baby shocked the
country a police spokesperson said we've seen several other ugly murders throughout the years but this
was extremely brutal and violent it took someone with a strong antisocial personality and a distinct
lack of emotion to carry out such a heinous act one investigator remarked in a robbery the motive is his
money it was not necessary to kill to achieve this goal therefore the question on
everyone's Minds was why was Caroline Crouch killed it was speculated that The Intruders had been high on drugs and
unable to control their actions perhaps Caroline got a decent look at them or knew
them Caroline was also a black belt kickboxer she might have fought back with a level of strength or skill the
Invaders didn't anticipate so they killed her to keep her under control maybe her frantic screaming
after a gun was pressed to her daughter's Temple forced them to silence her before alarms were
raised given that the perpetrators knew to ask for the money the couple had stashed away the only thing
investigators ascertained with any degree of certainty was that the the attack was
premeditated those in babus and carolin's Inner Circle were questioned perhaps someone among them had tipped
off the gang meanwhile security footage collected from nearby homes and businesses showed a dark colored car
cruising around the couple's house on the morning of the crime it was closely followed by a
motorbike the vehicles were filmed turning along the streets that led to babus and Caroline's
home 3 days after her murder Caroline Crouch was late har rest on the Greek island of
alos she'd lived there since she was two her parents having fallen in love with the idyllic Coastal surroundings and
decided to relocate there from England Caroline embraced her Beachside upbringing developing a passion for
scuba diving and swimming it was on during a good Friday parade in 2017 where Caroline met and fell in love
with babis and agnostos a handsome and successful commercial helicopter pilot paying tribute to his late wife
babis said I was lucky that I met you very lucky that you loved me and even more
lucky that you are the mother of my child she will grow up not remembering her wonderful mother but Caroline who
was the joy of life will always be near me through our [Music] daughter as Caroline Crouch was being
laid to rest police in Northeast Greece pulled a car over for a routine stop the 36-year-old male driver was a
Georgian National who was on route to the Bulgarian board order he handed over his passport for identification but it
was quickly determined to be a fake as it turned out the man was Georgie harod isy a violent criminal
with multiple convictions he was wanted in relation to 12 break-ins committed around Athens
over the past 6 months three were around Caroline Crouch's neighborhood of glicka one was in December the previous
year harod zish whey and three others broke into a house via a rear window and dragged the female occupant by her hair
before threatening to slid her throat the offenders made off with almost 10,000 in cash as well as
jewelry on March 7 2 months before babus and Caroline were targeted harod zish whey and four accomplices tied up an
elderly couple and their cleaning lady Dre during a home invasion they made off with cash and
other valuables harod zish whey bore remarkable similarities to the composite sketch babus had helped
create given his Georgian Roots history of carrying out violent break-ins with the gang and his attempt to flee the
country police were confident that they had finally found Caroline's killer Georgie Herod zishy was placed
under arrest he was interrogated for 4 days straight during which he was tied up and beaten
by interviewing officers they asked over and over how did you get out there how did you get in
the house how did you kill her harod Z's treatment at the hands of police left him
concussed he maintained that he had never heard of Caroline Crouch and when evidence against him came up the dry
harod is wheelie was clear cleared of any involvement in her murder three officers were demoted from
the Athens homicide squad for the treatment Georgie Herod zishy endured while in
custody police set their sights on a local Albanian organized crime group eventually they widowed a list of
100 potential suspects down to just 10 people these individuals were on what detectives refer to as the Red List
known criminals with a penchant for being particularly cruel Baba anagnostopoulos was shown mug
shots of the suspects though police wouldn't divulge any further insight into their
identities they're all hardcore criminals of different nationalities albanians Georgians and Greeks may all
have been involved organized crime knows no Frontiers was all a detective was willing to say before
adding it's a difficult case it's taken longer than we thought to get here but we are getting
closer members of the public were starting to lose patience as racial hostilities
grew a €300,000 reward for information went unclaimed meanwhile robberies and burglaries continued throughout Athens
leaving residents fearful someone else would soon be killed a criminologist told the son
online if this was an ordinary burglary it would have been solved by now we read
that there is no DNA no fingerprints that there is little evidence and yet they seem like
amateurs something is not [Music] right but Caroline's loved ones remained grateful for the investigative effort
with her husband telling reporters I hope what happened to me and my family and my wife's family never
happens again the police know how to do their job and they will find them despite the emotional toll babus
continued to front the media to keep his wife's case in the public Consciousness he willingly fielded
questions from journalists via his Instagram account while expressing his gratitude for the outpouring of support
he was receiving from around the world on June 17 2021 37 days after Caroline Crouch was killed police
revealed they were closer than ever to tracking down her killer though they didn't
elaborate that same day a small memorial service was held for Caroline on aosu MERS soon noticed that detectives
had arrived the detectives waited for the service to conclude before discreetly approaching
bis anagnostopoulos and asking him to escort them to Athens important information had emerged
and there was a new suspect they urged babus to come and help identify the man babus
agreed he approached Caroline's mother Susan to give her the update he gave her a tearful Embrace before prepar in to
depart for [Music] Athens investigators had followed up a host of leads that emerged from babis's
Recollections of the night his wife was killed but all had reached dead ends over time several details didn't
appear to add up detectives had failed to uncover indisputable evidence that the basement
window had been breached by in Intruders the window was very small raising doubts that several men one of
whom Baba said was tall and overweight could access the house in this way and although babis and Caroline's
house had been ransacked something about the mess felt remarkably polished for a
violent home invasion the only thing a neighbor had heard was the sound of the couple's
puppy crying in distress they didn't hear any ransacking screams calls for help or a baby
crying most perplexing was the absence of foreign fingerprints or biological material in the
house this was unheard of and investigators wondered how the offenders had gotten so
lucky it was also unusual for home Invaders to restrain a male victim and leave him unharmed while opting to fight
a female victim not a single p piece of forensic evidence was uncovered on Caroline's
body despite the fact she had fought her attacker for upwards of 6 minutes even swabs taken from underneath
her fingernails came back negative for any outside DNA then there was the matter of the
home security camera which was found damaged in the living room it is common for criminals to take
security cameras with them but in this instance the offender had merely removed the memory card
data revealed the card had been removed at 1:20 a.m. yet babis said the thieves broke in at 4:30
a.m. at the time of her death Caroline Crouch was wearing a smartwatch that automatically monitored her
pulse at 3:58 a.m. her heart rate indicated she was fast asleep at 405 her pulse increased
abruptly by 50% showing she was in an an extreme state of mental or physical stress at 4:11 a.m. Caroline's heart
stopped beating all together this too was before the time babis said she must have been
[Music] murdered an examination of babis's phone revealed he had a fitness app installed
that tracked his physical activity data from the night of the crime showed he was moving around at the
exact time time he' supposedly been tied up and blindfolded by the alleged Intruders police also attempted to
reenact babis's claim that he used his nose to dial Emergency Services on his phone's
touchscreen at the time he'd been tightly restrained from head to toe and blindfolded with duct
tape no officer was able to successfully dial the number while in the same condition in investigators also
uncovered evidence that Caroline had attempted to book herself and her daughter into a hotel on the night of
her murder a text she sent to a friend around this time revealed why Caroline had threatened to leave her
husband Baba sosis had been on holiday in alasas when he first met Caroline Crouch
his mother lived on the island and was a teacher at the school Caroline attended Caroline was just 15 years old
when babus introduced himself he was 27 described as charismatic clever and photogenic he was also well off
financially Babas gained Caroline's attention by flying his helicopter over the school despite the 12year age Gap Carol
oline believed she had found her perfect match and assured her family that she was
happy within a year and a half babus proposed to the then 17-year-old Caroline 3 days after Caroline turned 18
the pair exchanged vs and settled in glicker nrow Caroline attended University in
Athens while babus continued working as a pilot both Caroline and B were active on
social media sharing many photos and videos of their life together online they looked like a joyful and romantic
couple yet Caroline was far more honest when writing in her private diary in coded entries dating back to
2019 Caroline questioned her relationship with babis that year she wrote I Fought with babus again this
time it was serious I am thinking of leaving I am thinking of going to my sister I don't know if I can keep going
with him over time babus became increasingly manipulative and controlling towards
Caroline it began with their very non-traditional wedding Greek weddings are typically
elaborate celebrations attended by a large crowd of family and well-wishes however Babas eloped with
Caroline overseas in a guest ceremony upon their return home babus further isolated Caroline from her
friends and family he was also the bread winner while Caroline was a university student
with no money making her totally dependent on him whenever Caroline's mother sent her
money babus would take it Caroline wrote of her anguish in her diary quote I love babus so much that I can't
leave him even though this relationship hurts me Caroline later detailed a tearful
confrontation she had with babis wherein she expressed her desire to leave him but she had just discovered she was
pregnant with his child Caroline wrote I stayed with him so my daughter would not grow up without her two
parents in July 2020 Caroline wrote today my little one is a month old it's also the day I told babus I want to
leave I feel awful she went on to write that she had found a house for herself in the Athens
suburb of hry hours before Caroline was killed phone records revealed that she and
babus had exchanged several combative texts while at home [Music] together Baba anagnostopoulos was
informed that the suspect who had emerged in his wife's murder investigation was in fact
him he was presented with the overwhelming evidence that revealed the inconsistencies in his original
story after more than 8 hours of interrogation babus broke down babus confessed that on the night
of Monday May 10 2021 he and Caroline had started arguing early on although Caroline's diary entries
indicated the couple had had issues from early in their relationship babus claimed they only ever thought about
their daughter he said that Caroline was determined to take their child and leave
this angered babus who claimed his daughter was his whole life he lost his temper babis told
police at some point Caroline threw the child in her cot and she told me to get up and leave the house she pushed me and
punched me my judgment became blurred I strangled her Caroline tried to fight babus off as
he pressed a pillow down on her face with the entire weight of his body he killed her in front of their
11-month-old daughter afterwards babus panicked he thought about getting rid of Caroline's
body but said it was impossible for him to do so he just looked at her and cried the thought then crossed his mind
to say someone else killed Caroline he staged the home invasion killing their puppy Roxy to bolster his
story he knew no one would believe he was capable of killing his own own dog babus then placed his wailing baby
daughter alongside the body of his wife before tying himself up with rope duct tape and
handcuffs babus conceded that he deserved to be punished saying I owe a big apology to the people
I've hurt I know it doesn't matter now what I did was not justified he did however try to shift
blame onto car line by saying she had become unstable and aggressive since giving
birth he made out that she was a terrible mother and implied that he had killed her to save their
child in Caroline the murder that fooled the world domestic abuse expert Dr Emma
Catz said this attempt to besmer Caroline's character and make people think badly of
her is of course an attempt to get babus more sympathy and more more lenient treatment which goes completely against
the narrative that he has any remorse or Contrition for what he's done in reference to babis painting
Caroline out to be the aggressor Dr Katz explained we do often see victims arguing back and we see victims even
physically fighting back against the coercive control sometimes people then think they
can't be a real victim they fought back babus might have given the impression Caroline wasn't a real Victim
Because she fought back but in my opinion she very much was Baba said he lied to police because
he didn't want his daughter to grow up without either of her parents I'm devastated he said I only
cared about my daughter I hid the truth so I would be able to raise her Greece's chief of police claimed that
they had suspected babis anagnostopoulos from the beginning when police first arrived at
his home babus was remarkably cold about his wife's murder his demina made one officer so
uncomfortable she took babis's baby away from him yet any misgivings about babus were
kept private as investigators ruled out other possibilities they publicly refuted any
suggestions he was responsible to prevent him from fleeing babus was so confident that he
had convinced police of his story that he didn't feel the need to destroy evidence such as his mobile
phone babus cleverly blamed the crime on foreigners because he knew this would shift public discourse to the
perpetrator nationalities rather than the crime itself authorities described babus as as
a top class actor his willingness to speak to investigators and the media ensured he
came across as a man with nothing to hide in front of news cameras he convincingly played the role of grieving
husband many viewers were fully convinced he was a man in pain babis told the media take care of your family cherish
your loved ones as much as you can while the homicide investigation was underway babus was active on social
media posting happy pictures of him and Caroline along with captions like together
forever he kept up this charade for over a month Caroline's mother Susan later revealed that she hadn't suspected her
daughter's husband for a second she had placed all her hopes in her son-in-law and was left full of
anger upon his confession the word wife was promptly removed from Caroline Crouch's White marble headstone
leaving the words to our much loved mother and daughter babus was charged with premeditated murder he also faced
charges for perverting the course of Justice lying to authorities and animal abuse public opinion about babus was so
vitriolic that outside Court he dawned a bulletproof and was flanked by armed police he was dubbed the most aile man
in Greece though not everyone agreed a small group of middle-aged women gathered at the court to support
the alleged killer one of the women told the Times by no means do I justify what he
did but he's quite handsome and dashing another remarked he's quite sensitive not the narcissist they paint him out to
be I think about him a lot I've collected pictures of him and pinned them on my bedroom
wall in court prosecutors walked through babis's actions leading up to and immediately after Caroline's
murder they argued that each action from removing the memory card in his home security camera to meticulously staging
the crime scene indicated someone acting calmly with pre-planned intent the fact that babus attacked
Caroline as she slept showed the crime was premeditated and coldblooded in his dayong testimony
babus told the court I ruined my life I ruined my family's life I wish I could go back in
time he called his marriage to Caroline a fairy tale and claimed that her happiness was his absolute PR
priority he claimed that after Caroline became a mother she turned Moody and was
prone to emotional Outburst this caused him to snap babus was expressionless as he
detailed the night he killed Caroline he claimed responsibility for her death but denied it was murder
maintaining the attack was a crime of passion Done In the Heat of the Moment in May 2022 after a month-long trial the
jury unanimously found babis anagnostopoulos guilty of all charges he was sentenced to life
imprisonment prison life has been difficult for babis and agnostos he has expressed fear for his
life after being beaten by men of the nationalities he tried to pin his crimes on
Caroline Crouch was one of 17 women killed by their romantic partner in Greece in
2021 in almost every instance the victim had tried to enter the relationship before her
death these types of killings fall under the definition of femicide the killing of women or girls because they are
female in almost 40% of reported femicide cases the perpetrator is the victim's spouse or
partner issues of domestic abuse weren't openly discussed in Greece meaning victims like Caroline Crouch suffered in
silence a journalist appearing on the documentary Caroline the murder that fooled the world
said The only positive thing to come out of this case was that the term femicide
has been introduced in the Greek media this case gave tragically an opportunity for the Greek society to
realize how deep this problem is I hope that this case will live along in the Greek society's memory because it
will remind us of the many wrong perceptions we have about people and it will also remind us how much we should
look into the issue of domestic [Music] violence before Caroline Crouch met babis and agnostos she was a popular
young woman renowned for always having a smile on her face others immediately wanted to befriend
her and she was so well-liked that she was like a mini celebrity in a Lona sauce a friend and former neighbor of
Carolines said I consider the people that hadn't met Caroline unlucky the loss is really great I
really miss her Caroline was also a loving and doting mother in what would become the
fin final video she ever posted to her Instagram account Caroline is on the beach by her home joyfully holding her
baby daughter in the air before planting a kiss on her cheek the little girl is now being cared
for by Caroline's parents David and Susan on the same Greek island where Caroline herself grew
up when writing about her daughter in her diary Caroline said my love for her is stronger than
anything in the [Music] [Music] world

Case 269: Caroline Crouch

*** Content warning: Animal cruelty *** In May 2021, residents of the affluent Athens suburb of Glyka Nera were left shaken by news of a violent home invasion. Three masked intruders had killed 19-year-old Caroline Crouch as she slept beside her 11-month-old daughter before ransacking the house.

Caroline’s husband, Babis Anagnostopoulos, was the only witness, but he’d been bound and blindfolded during the attack. The desperate search for those responsible led investigators down a path no one saw coming.

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Milly Raso Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn

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RESOURCES

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Brief Summary

Babis Anagnostopoulos confessed to murdering his wife Caroline Crouch during a domestic dispute, shocking Greece and highlighting femicide issues.

Key points

A Violent Home Invasion. At 4:30 a.m., Babus and Caroline's home is invaded by armed intruders, leading to chaos.
The Aftermath of Tragedy. Babus discovers his wife's body after the attack, leading to a shocking revelation.
Investigative Breakthrough. Police arrest a suspect linked to multiple violent crimes, raising hopes for justice.
The Confession. Babus confesses to murdering his wife Caroline after hours of interrogation.
The Trial Verdict. Babus is found guilty of all charges and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Caroline's Legacy. Caroline's story sparks discussions on femicide in Greece, highlighting domestic abuse issues.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I stayed with him so my daughter would not grow up without her two parents.

Caroline's decision to remain in the relationship for the sake of her child

25:21WatchDec 2, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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