Four men receive life sentences for premeditated murder of Thanasis Kalogeropoulos

Limassol, Cyprus. Four men were given life sentences by the Limassol permanent criminal court on Friday after being convicted of the premeditated murder of Thanasis Kalogeropoulos.

Verdicts and charges

The court ruled that the killing had been planned and that all four defendants’ guilt was established “beyond all reasonable doubt”. A conviction for premeditated murder requires a life sentence.

The defendants, whose ages ranged from 23 to 46, collectively faced 11 charges. The court also convicted them on counts involving conspiracy to commit murder, firearms possession, transportation and use, and arson. However, the 24-year-old defendant was acquitted of an additional charge of aiding and abetting murder.

Killing near beach restaurant

Kalogeropoulos, aged 55, was heading for his morning swim when he was killed on October 30, 2023. The attack took place in a parking area beside a beach restaurant on Limassol’s Amathus Avenue. A post-mortem examination established that he had suffered ten gunshot wounds.

According to police, two attackers fired at him from a vehicle at close range, one with a pistol and the other with a Kalashnikov. They subsequently burned the vehicle used for their escape and left on a motorcycle.

Kalogeropoulos was “well known to authorities” because of his earlier involvement in organised crime.

Roles alleged by police

Police had alleged that the 24-year-old organised the plot and that a fellow defendant was among the two shooters.

They also said the oldest defendant owned the property in which the murder was planned, while the youngest drove the getaway vehicle.