Police forces at the Mediterranean Island of Cyprus are currently investigating a possible series of killings after two bodies were discovered several days apart from one another in an abandoned mine shaft near the capital Nicosia.
“This is a form of crime unprecedented for the norms of Cyprus,” Cyprus Police Chief Zacharias Chrysostomou told reporters of In-Cyprus. “It’s premature to assess the extent of this crime.”
The 6-year-old daughter of one of the two victims is also still missing. Authorities returned on Monday, April 22 to search the 394 foot (130 meters) deep, water-filled mineshaft near the village of Mitsero and nearby lake Xyliatou for the missing child, but so far without results, In-Cyprus reported.
“You appreciate that this is a very sensitive issue. We are examining the possibility there may be other bodies,” Fire Service Chief Marcos Trangolas told reporters. “The search will continue for as many days as necessary and until we have definitive answers.”
The first found body belonged to Mary Rose Tiburcio, 39, from the Philippines, and was discovered in the shaft on April 14, 2019. The woman and her 6-year-old daughter had been missing from the city of Larnaca in Cyprus, since May 5, 2018, according to Reuters.
The second body was discovered on April 20, and, according to police, belonged to Arian Palanas Lozano, 28, also a Filipino. She had been reported missing in July 2018. When pulled out of the shaft she was severely decomposed. Both women were naked and bound.
Police have in custody a 35-year-old suspect, Nicos Metaxas, a Cypriot military officer who was already arrested for the kidnapping and premeditated killing of both women and stood trial today before Nicosia District Court for the murder of the 6-year-old daughter.
He has allegedly confessed to killing both women, and to sinking the child’s body in the lake, but claimed the girl had died in his house after choking on her own vomit, according to In-Cyprus.
According to an anonymous Facebook users group, Metaxas also confessed today to having killed a fourth woman, named Marikar.
Breaking: Nikos Metaxas the serial killer admitted that he killed also Maricar and Corpse ????????
Posted by Freedom of Friendship on Thursday, April 25, 2019
Authorities will start searching today with underwater cameras operated by specially trained divers and robotic equipment at the Xyliatou lake in the ongoing quest for the body of the 6-year-old daughter.
In a previous court hearing, police said the army officer stated having approached both women on an online dating site. Metaxas told investigators at a court hearing that he met the second victim online and strangled her after having sex with her, Cyprus News Agency reported.
“The suspect has been questioned again, but I will not publicly say anything about this,” police spokesman Andreas Angelides said, and that the suspect would likely be interrogated several more times soon.
Both women were part of the substantial Filipino population on the Island. The killings have spurred a lot of unrest among the Filipino community. They claim authorities did not take the case seriously and did not act fast enough when both women first went missing.
Earlier on Wednesday, police said a 3-member team had been appointed to carry out an official inquiry to assess any possible missteps made by the police in investigating the cases or in earlier investigations that failed to find the two missing women who turned up murdered.
