Greek Husband Arrested In Wife's Murder After Claiming She'd Been Killed In Brutal Home Invasion

A Greek pilot has been arrested in the murder of his young British wife, more than a month after claiming she was killed by robbers in a brutal home invasion.

Police said Babis Anagnostopoulos confessed to killing his wife, Caroline Crouch, 20, during an interrogation after he was picked up by authorities from his late spouse’s memorial service on the island of Alonnisos, the BBC reports.

“The perpetrator is [Ms. Crouch’s] 33-year-old husband, who confessed to his act,” a statement from the Hellenic Police said, according to the Independent.

Police said Anagnostopoulos admitted during a six-hour interrogation to strangling his wife during an argument, while their baby daughter wasn't far away.

Anagnostopoulos initially claimed that three robbers had broken into the couple’s home in a suburb of Athens on May 11, tied the pair up and put a gun to their daughter’s head before strangling Crouch and taking off with thousands in cash.

“I hope this will not happen to anyone else,” Anagnostopoulos told Greek television after his wife’s death, according to Sky News. “Police are doing their job and they will catch them. I hope what my family and the family of my wife has been through will not happen to anyone again.”

Caroline Crouch Photo: Instagram

The brutal crime sent shockwaves through the Greek community; however, investigators said they uncovered evidence that brought Anagnostopoulos’ story into question.

Much of the evidence relied on the couple’s electronic devices that seemed to contradict his account of the crime.

Although he told investigators the robbers had tied him up, investigators found that he had had used his phone during the time frame and an activity tracker on the phone showed him moving about the house, the BBC reports.

Crouch’s smart watch also registered the 20-year-old had a heart beat after the time that Anagnostopoulos said she was killed.

Anagnostopoulos also told authorities that the robbers removed the data cards from the home security system on their way out, but investigators found that they had actually been removed four or five hours before he said the robbers had left, according to the Greek Reporter.

Text messages between the couple also revealed they had been fighting the night she was killed.

Police collected Anagnostopoulos by helicopter on Thursday after the conclusion of his wife’s memorial service on Alonissos. He was spotted hugging his mother-in-law outside the chapel after the service before he left with investigators and was flown back to Greece for the interrogation.  

“We waited for the memorial service to end and then [Anagnostopoulos] was transferred to Police HQ,” a police official said, according to The Independent.

Just days after his wife was killed, the pilot posted a tribute to the 20-year-old on his Instagram with a photo of the pair on their wedding day in 2019.

“Together forever,” he wrote. “Have a nice trip my love.”