Nicosia, Cyprus. Pleiades: Victims of the Serial Killer is a documentary series examining the crimes of Nikos Metaxas, described as the first recorded serial killer in the history of Cyprus. Directed by Andreas Sheittanis and Paris Prokopiou, the six-episode project focuses on the victims and the investigation into the Mitsero murders.
Origins of the project
The idea for the series emerged after Prokopiou spent several months gathering files on the Mitsero murders before discussing the concept with Sheittanis. Sheittanis said the project began from a conversation in 2022, after Prokopiou told him he had been researching the case for about two months.
Sheittanis said he was immediately drawn to the subject because of his interest in true crime stories. He also said the timing aligned because both directors were out of work when they began discussing the project.
Choice of documentary format
The directors said they considered whether to adapt the case into a fictional drama or present it as a documentary series. They decided on a documentary approach, saying the medium should serve the narrative.
Sheittanis said fictionalising the story would have been less impactful and that allowing people directly affected by the case to speak made the project more true, emotional and real.
Structure and title
The title Pleiades serves as a tribute to the seven victims. In Greek mythology, the Pleiades are the seven daughters of the Titan Atlas who were transformed into a cluster of stars.
The series follows a linear structure. Each of its six episodes is named after a victim, with one episode carrying two names, corresponding to the point in the investigation when that victim’s body was found. The final episode, titled Orion, departs from this pattern and focuses more directly on Metaxas. The title refers to the constellation named after the hunter from Greek mythology.
The crimes
According to the documentary’s account, Metaxas was a 35-year-old former National Guard officer who, between September 2016 and July 2018, targeted, abducted and murdered five migrant women and two young children.
Discovery of the case
The case came to light on April 14, 2019, after exceptionally heavy rainfall caused water levels to rise in a disused flooded mine shaft near the village of Mitsero. A group of Cypriots and Germans photographing the site spotted a naked, bound body floating near the surface.
The remains were identified as Mary Rose Tiburcio, a 38-year-old domestic worker from the Philippines. Tiburcio and her six-year-old daughter, Sierra Grace, had been officially reported missing by her roommate on May 5, 2018.
Police response and investigation
After Tiburcio disappeared, her friends urged police to track her phone data and investigate her sudden absence. The documentary says they were largely dismissed amid an institutional assumption that foreign domestic workers often break their employment contracts and move to the north.
The discovery of Tiburcio’s body triggered a homicide investigation that quickly focused on a digital profile. Investigators found that Tiburcio had been communicating on the online dating platform Badoo with a user operating under the pseudonym Orestes35.
The digital trail led investigators to Metaxas. After his arrest in mid-April 2019, he initially refused to cooperate, but the documentary says digital forensic evidence linking his personal electronic devices to the victim’s accounts undermined his defence.
